Smoked Meat Sandwich, Schwartz's, Montréal

I've been consistent. Every single time I venture to la belle ville, within an hour of arrival, I find myself sitting at the Schwartz's counter on St. Laurent, taking in the aromatic brisket piled high before me and salivating at the thought of that brisket between perfect slices of rye bread with a pickle, and maybe a bit of slaw, fries.

Having your choice of lean, medium, and fat, I went down the middle road as usual and it's always the most satisfying bite of a sandwich. The mounds of meat just melt away between a bread that does not go soft, having the picture perfect balance of moisture. The trick to eating this is to keep it all together, so minimal handling is required and I recommend not even putting the thing down as it's all downhill from there.

Sidenote: Now a man who loves meat so much that he bares visibly on his forearm a tattoo of a hamburger, told me that it's actually the steaks that are the real deal at Schwartz's. Unfortunately, I can never resist the bite of the brisket.

- J.D. Salami
Schwartz's

Comments

Bill Cosby, Shopsy's Deli, Toronto

I did not know Shopsy's was such a thing, but getting there around 11am before the financial district regulars came in for a hot lunch and protips, I sat down to the Bill Cosby sandwich (hot corned beef AND hot pastrami with swiss cheese) and hot damn if it wasn't one of the best damn (and hilarious) sandwiches I have ever eaten. Very moist, possibly improvised, and incredibly flavourful pastrami and corned beef, both of which are hard to find out West, the double decker treatment makes me wonder why it's not always this way. The usual smoked meat stack a la Montreal style is sometimes obscene, or simply not enough, but here, it's the right combination of meat slope to rye bread softness that made me wonder if I should work in the financial district, because if I did, I would certainly order this sandwich again with an extra pickle.

Hen's Deli, Milwaukee

My mini midwest tour continued to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a place known more for breweries and deep fried cheese curds, but my timing was fortuitously aligned with the recent opening of Hen's Deli . Located in the neigbhorhood of Walker's Point, in a former hole in the wall soup shop, Hen's began at the local farmer's market under the name Clark Street Sausage Co. Establishing a fan base with unusual items (for Milwaukee) such as ramen and a pork pastrami sandwich, their brick and mortar location offered a small, but mighty menu of established favorites along with some new offerings on rotation. I was on my way out of town as I learned about Hen's, which is unfortunate timing for me. Stopping in with some locals in the morning, we got several breakfast bagel sandwiches to go on the everything bagel with sausage. Without a doubt, their house made sausage patties served as the foundation that held it all together. Tucked on top was a slippery little muffin tin egg (...

Cherry Circle Room, Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

This blog has been neglected. I'm sorry, but not sorry, as life took me in a different direction for the last several years, and compounded with the global pandemic, I did not travel for about three years. Homemade sandwiches were made and enjoyed. Many a thick cut bacon and equally thick cut seasonal tomato sandwich on artisanal whole wheat was savoured with a cut of mayonnaise. I became my own favorite lunchtime deli counter, out of necessity. But of course, one tires of familiarity, and eventually, new flavours and textures are desired. In my first 24 hours in Chicago, a night was spent at the redesigned Chicago Athletic Association, formerly a private gentlmen's club. A decadent steak dinner was enjoyed off premise, but breakfast was sampled in its distinctive Cherry Circle Room . As the original name for the private club's longstanding lounge, the redesign of room and menu plays off the old boys' vibe of exclusivity and Chicago's love for wood paneling, and to...

You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

Search This Blog