Beyond the Bagel - Montreal Jewish Food Tour

08/19/2019

Listen to Kat Romanow, Jewish food historian and creator of the Beyond the Bagel Montreal Jewish food tour, speak about what makes Montreal's bagels so special. (Featured on CBC Montreal this week!)

Jewish food historian and director of food programming at the Museum of Jewish Montreal Katherine Romanow knows that Montrealers love their bagels.

07/12/2019

We're so flattered that Beyond the Bagel was included in Eater Montreal's top 4 Montreal Food Tours!

And, we couldn’t agree more with the folks at Eater: BTB isn’t just for tourists! We love having locals join us to share their own stories, and discover things they never knew about their own backyard (and most importantly, nosh down on delights like Hof Kelsten’s Bialys!)

🥯😍🥯

Un grand remerciement à Eater Montreal d'avoir inclus Au-delà du Bagel dans la liste des top 4 des tournées gastronomiques montréalaises ! Nous sommes très honorés de cette reconnaissance !

De plus, nous sommes tout à fait d'accord avec eux : Au-delà du Bagel n’est pas seulement pour les touristes ! Nous sommes toujours heureux d'avoir les habitants de Montréal nous joindre pour partager leurs propres histoires et découvrir leur propre quartier (et bien sûr, savourez des délices comme le Bialys de Hof Kelsten !)

07/12/2019

10/19/2018

Schwartz's Hebrew Delicatessen is out but Musée du Montréal juif - Museum of Jewish Montreal still has a few precious cans of Cott's cherry cola!

The Montreal deli gets the drink from a local supplier, and that supplier is out of cans.

09/25/2018

Thank you National Post & Morgan Lowrie for the great article!!

We'll be running the tour until the end of October, so you still have lots of time to experience Montreal's Jewish food history with us. Get your tickets here: http://museemontrealjuif.ca/tours/

MONTREAL — When the question is asked which Jewish food has most defined Montreal, the near-unanimous answer is bagels.Chewy, seed-covered, boiled in honey-water and delivered warm from a woo…

09/20/2018

We visit Cheskie's on the tour, and although they're well known for their babka, we love to introduce people to their kokosh - babka's lesser known Hungarian cousin!

Read more about it in our friend Leah Koenig's article and try your hand at it if you're not in Montreal to try it.

Link to article: https://f52.co/2ppj2Ty

08/31/2018

Check out Eater's visit to Snowdon Deli for some delicious smoked meat!!

On today's episode of Dining on a Dime, Lucas is in Montreal at Snowden's Deli eating the best smoked meat in the city. Eater is the one-stop-shop for food a...

08/30/2018

Our tour is now up on Airbnb Experiences!

Whether you're a local or a visitor, our tour is a fun way to eat your way through the Jewish food of Montreal and learn a lot along the way.

Montreal - Beyond the Bagel: A Jewish Food Tour. I'm a Jewish food historian and the director of food programming at the Museum of Jewish Montreal. I'm passionate about using food as a medium to teach people about Jewish culture and history and have founded projects that allow me to do just that, th...

08/17/2018

Here's an interior shot of the old St. Lawrence bakery that was once in the space that now houses Moog Audio on St-Laurent Blvd.

It was known to some as the Mean Lady's bakery because of the stern disposition of the women who worked behind the counter!

08/15/2018

Moishes Steakhouse serves the city's best steaks (and you can't forget about their Monte Carlo potato!) but it started out as a restaurant that primarily served the Romanian-Jewish community of the city. Founded by Moishe Lachterman, it's still run by his sons today.

Take the tour to find out more about this Montreal icon. Get your tickets here: imjm.ca/tours

08/10/2018

More Mtl bagel love from Eater as part of their Dining on a Dime show!

Highlighting everything from bagels to Portuguese chicken

08/08/2018

You get to try well known Jewish foods like bagels & rugelach on our tour, but you also get to try lesser known foods like bialys.

These round breads are named after the town of Bialystok in Poland, where they originated. They're made with a yeast dough that's shaped into a circle after which its distinctive indent is pressed into the dough and filled with onions & poppyseeds.

Come find out more about this delicious bread and about the only bakery where you can buy it in Montreal! We have tours running all week and you can get your tickets here: imjm.ca/tours

08/03/2018

Learn how bagels are made at St-Viateur Bagel Shop with owner, Joe Morena.

Be prepared to want a fresh bagel after you watch this!

08/01/2018

This is Hymie Sckolnick, the founder of Beautys Luncheonette, standing in the restaurant's doorway.

Today would have been his 97th birthday. We're thinking of him and his family today. He's very much missed by us all.

07/25/2018

We love this list that Eater Montreal put together! They mapped out some of Montreal's best Jewish restaurants and even included Fletchers - Espace Culinaire on the list - yay!!

Take our tour to visit lots of these restaurants and try some of Montreal's most famous Jewish eats! Book your tickets here: imjm.ca/tours

Bagels, smoked meat, and much more

07/20/2018

Here are Rose & Chaim Bilerman inside Nina's Snack Bar, the restaurant they ran for 20 years in the Mile End.

It was a family affair with Chaim taking orders and serving customers while Rose cooked up homestyle Eastern European food.

Come learn more about their story on our tour. Get your tickets here: imjm.ca/tours

Ps. Take a look at those hamburger printed floor tiles!

07/18/2018

Have a listen to this oral history put together by our food fellow Marina Miller in which she interviews Hart Fishman, owner of Snowdon deli. In the interview he discusses the past, present and future of the deli, its food, and its importance for the Côte-des-Neiges community.

A peak into the culture of the Montreal Jewish deli, heimishe-style serving, and what it means to be an unofficial community center: http://imjm.ca/stories/show/552

07/13/2018

This impressive building used to stand on the corner of Saint-Laurent Boulevard and Rachel! Built in 1908, it was officially known as Marché Saint-Jean-Baptiste, but among members of the Jewish community it was simply known as the Rachel Street Market since it bordered Rachel Street.

Come learn more about this market and the many other Jewish food businesses that filled the streets of the Mile End and the Plateau on our tour. It runs 5 days a week and there are still spots available on our tours this weekend! Buy your tickets here: imjm.ca/tours

Photo courtesy of Ville de Montréal

07/11/2018

Did you know that Moishes Steakhouse has a podcast?! It's called The Grilled Podcast and it's hosted by Tony Babinski.

During each episode they speak to entrepreneurs, craftspeople and visionaries in different industries. Start out by listening one of our favorite episodes with one of the owners of St-Viateur Bagel Shop!

Nick Morena and his brothers were born into the bagel business. Their father, Joe Morena, worked at and eventually became the owner of Saint-Viateur Bagel, a 24/7 mainstay of Montreal’s food…

07/04/2018

Curious about the history of smoked meat in Montreal?

Find out about this Romanian Jewish delicacy through the Musée du Montréal juif - Museum of Jewish Montreal's exhibit about it. Here's the link: https://bit.ly/2MOKDaC

If you're still craving more information and maybe even a bite of some smoked meat, take a tour with us to get the full story!

Image courtesy of the Musée McCord Museum

06/27/2018

It's Schwartz's Hebrew Delicatessen's 90th anniversary on December 31st, 2018 and the celebrations are starting with a deli themed scavenger hunt this Saturday!

25 teams of four (that have already been chosen) will make their way to destinations around the city where they will be given clues by adjudicators dressed up as a giant pickle, an oversized mustard container and spice jar!

Sounds like it will be a great time and if you're around on Saturday make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the giant pickle!

Watch for the giant pickle, mustard- and spice-jar mascots on Saturday as 25 teams of 4 compete for a trip to Vegas to see Céline Dion

06/15/2018

Did you know that rugelach is actually a mid-20th century adaptation of a central European pastry called kipfel?!

The original kipfel was made with a yeast dough and Jewish renderings of it were usally non-dairy so it could be eaten with a meat meal. Making rugelach with a cream cheese dough only became popular after its invention in the United States.

Come hear more about the history of this delicious pastry on the tour and try Hof Kelsten's amazing version of them!

06/13/2018

We loooove a good full sour pickle and some of our favorites are from Mrs. Whytes who we also happen to feature on our tour!

Mrs. Whytes was founded by Sam and Esther Witenoff and they started running it out of their apartment on Saint-Urbain. In the beginning, they would do all the pickling in big barrels in their backyard! Below is a photo of an original Mrs. Whytes label.

Come on our tour to find out more about Mrs. Whytes and other Jewish food busineses that had an important impact on Montreal's food culture. Get your tickets here: imjm.ca/tours

05/31/2018

We've been having a great time training new tour guides during our food fellowship over the last few weeks and they can't wait to teach you all about Montreal's Jewish food culture!

Book a tour here: imjm.ca/tours

05/11/2018

Steinberg's was once the largest grocery store chain in Quebec but it had very humble beginnings. It started out as a small store on Boulevard Saint-Laurent when it was founded by Ida Roth Steinberg in 1917.

Here's a photo of that first store with Ida standing behind the counter

Come on our tour to find out more about Steinberg's and other Jewish food busineses that had an important impact on Montreal's food culture. Get your tickets here: imjm.ca/tours

05/09/2018

Spring has finally sprung and our 2018 tour season is in full swing!

Beyond the Bagel - Montreal Jewish Food Tour is running on Fridays & Saturdays in May, and Wednesday to Saturday in June! Book your tickets by visiting: imjm.ca/tours

05/21/2017

We're going to be out celebrating St-Viateur's 60th anniversary today and filling our tummies with bagels!

If you want to learn more about the history behind this shop and lots of other Montreal Jewish foods join us on our Beyond the Bagel - Montreal Jewish Food Tour. Book your tickets here: http://imjm.ca/

Bagels are the great equalizer. Everybody eats them, everybody loves them — and everybody is invited to “the bagel factory’s” block party on Sunday

05/08/2017

Our food tour was featured in this weekend's La Presse!

04/16/2017

All of our tours finish at the Musée du Montréal juif - Museum of Jewish Montreal, which is home to Fletchers - Espace Culinaire. Check out the news from Fletchers!

Unofficial, highly opinionated information about the Belle Province’s largest city

04/06/2017

Get your walking shoes on & your appetites ready because our 2017 tour season is starting on April 8th!

Beyond the Bagel - Montreal Jewish Food Tour will be running every Saturday in April & May. Email [email protected] to book your spots!