Dunn's Famous Deli and Steakhouse is a chain of

Jewish deli A Jewish deli, also known as a Jewish delicatessen, is a delicatessen establishment that serves various traditional dishes in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, and are typically known for their sandwiches such as pastrami on rye, as well as their soups ...

s serving

Montreal-style smoked meat Montreal-style smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat or simply smoked meat in Quebec (French: ''smoked-meat''; sometimes ''viande fumée'' or even ''bœuf mariné'': Literally “marinated beef”) is a type of kosher-style deli meat product made ...

pastrami Pastrami (Romanian: '' pastramă'') is a food originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket, lamb, pork, chicken sometimes from turkey. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. ...

and

cheesecake Cheesecake is a sweet dessert consisting of one or more layers. The main, and thickest, layer consists of a mixture of a soft, fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. If there is a bottom layer, it m ...

founded in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, by Myer Dunn.

History

Dunn, who immigrated to Canada in 1911, opened his first restaurant in 1927 on Avenue Papineau near Avenue du Mont-Royal.About Us - Dunn's Famous - The Original Montreal Deli
/ref> In 1948 he opened his first restaurant to be called "Dunn's Famous Delicatessen" at the corner of Avenue du Parc and Avenue du Mont-Royal. In 1955 he opened his flagship restaurant at 892

Saint Catherine Street Sainte-Catherine Street (french: rue Sainte-Catherine) () is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and de M ...

West. The storefront windows were famous for the top-to-bottom stacks of large jars full of hot banana peppers. The deli was open 24 hours a day, unusual for restaurant in the

downtown core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...

. Beginning in the 1970s Dunn's Famous began to focus more on

, eventually stopping its promotion of

Pastrami Pastrami (Romanian: '' pastramă'') is a food originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket, lamb, pork, chicken sometimes from turkey. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. ...

. The iconic

deli closed in 1998, but a new restaurant was opened in 2000 on Metcalfe Street, close to the old location, by Dunn's grandson. Ina Devine, daughter of Aideh Dunn, has franchised the restaurant, now with multiple locations across Ontario, Elliot Kligman has franchises in Quebec and also offers Dunn's brand products to retail sellers.

Bill 101

The

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

provincial government amended

Bill 101 The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada ...

in the 1980s, making French the official language of the Quebec government. In the mid-1980s, several Jewish delicatessens ran afoul of the law, including Dunn's and

Schwartz's Schwartz's (French: ''Chez Schwartz''), also known as the Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen (French: ''Charcuterie Hébraïque de Montréal, Inc.''), is a Jewish delicatessen restaurant and take-out, located at 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal ...

, the latter whose owner of which was subjected to failed legal action by the OLF due to the apostrophe in his sign, which remains. In the mid-1980s, Dunn's got into trouble with Bill 101 for having the English term "smoked meat" on the sign out front. Dunn's manager at the time stated in defence of the sign that

MNA

Gérald Godin Gérald Godin (November 13, 1938 – October 12, 1994) was a Quebec poet and politician. Born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, he worked as a journalist at '' La Presse'' and other newspapers and magazines. His most important poetry collection, '' ...

himself ordered the sandwich by its name. Dunn's also fought a ruling to change the name of "smoked meat" to "boeuf mariné" in order to conform to the Quebec

Charter of the French language The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada ...

. They won the ruling on appeal by proving that if they did not advertise "smoked meat" by that term they would confuse and anger customers. Due to the work of Aideh Dunn, under the new ruling, enacted in 1987,

smoked meat Smoked meat is the result of a method of preparing red meat, white meat, and seafood which originated in the Paleolithic Era. Smoking adds flavor, improves the appearance of meat through the Maillard reaction, and when combined with curing it ...

became a word in both

official languages of Canada The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada," according to Canada's constitution. "Official ...

Locations

There are currently ten locations, which are:

Quebec

Greater Montreal Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a ...

: **

Downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal ( French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the borough of Vil ...

Decarie Boulevard Autoroute 15 (also called the Décarie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Décarie (French) between the Turcot and Décarie Interchanges in Montreal and the Laurentian Autoroute (English) or Autoroute des Laurentides (French) north of Autorout ...

and

Jean-Talon Street Jean Talon Street (officially in french: rue Jean-Talon) is one of the longest streets on the Island of Montreal. It runs from Decarie Boulevard in the west through Anjou in the east to Galeries d'Anjou. Jean Talon was the first Intendant of New ...

, across from the

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

station **

Dollard-des-Ormeaux Dollard-des-Ormeaux (; commonly referred to as D.D.O. or simply Dollard) is a predominantly English-speaking suburb of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Island of Montreal. The town was named after French martyr Adam ...

, in Marché de l'Ouest **

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

** Saint-Eustache **

Taschereau Boulevard Taschereau Boulevard is a major suburban boulevard located on the south shore of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a section of Quebec Route 134 and runs from Longueuil to Candiac (junction of Autoroute 15). It is named after the prominent Quebec ...

, Greenfield Park

British Columbia

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Ontario

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

: ** Byward Market ** Elgin Street ** Shefford Road **

Merivale Road Merivale Road is an arterial road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It starts at Island Park Drive just north of Highway 417 and continues south until it ends at Prince of Wales Drive in Rideau Glen. South of Clyde Avenue, Merivale is ...

** Bank Street * Rockland *

Hawkesbury Hawkesbury or Hawksbury may refer to: People *Baron Hawkesbury, or Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1727-1808), English statesman Places ;Geography *Hawkesbury Island, an island in British Columbia, Canada * Hawkesbury Island, Queensland ...

* South Mountain

References

External links

*{{Official website 1927 establishments in Quebec Companies based in Montreal Jewish delicatessens in Canada Jews and Judaism in Montreal Montreal cuisine Restaurant chains in Canada Restaurants established in 1927 Restaurants in Montreal