Wilensky's Light Lunch, also known as Wilensky's, is a kosher-style

lunch counter A lunch counter or luncheonette is a small restaurant, similar to a diner, where the patron sits on a stool on one side of the counter and the server serves food from the opposite side of the counter, where the kitchen or food preparation area ...

located on Fairmount Avenue West in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada. Opened in 1932 by Moe Wilensky, the restaurant was immortalized in

Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...

's novel, '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz''. Scenes in the film version of the book were shot in the restaurant.

Products

Wilensky's is most famous for its ''Special'': a grilled salami-from-beef and bologna-from-beef sandwich with mustard on a

kaiser roll The Kaiser roll ( ; "Emperor roll"; ; ; ), also called a Vienna roll (), a hard roll or, if made by hand, also , is a typically round bread roll, originally from Austria. It is made from white flour, yeast, malt, water and salt, with the top s ...

, pressed flat from the grill — mustard is compulsory, as a sign in the restaurant announces. Though recognized as part of Montreal's Jewish community, the restaurant is not

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

. Their soda pop drinks are still mixed by hand.

History

Originally called Wilensky's Cigar Store, the restaurant was located at the corner of St. Urbain Street and Fairmount Avenue in Montreal's

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

district. It moved to its current location in 1952 and was run by the founder's widow Ruth Wilensky (until 2012), his son Asher, daughter Sharon and granddaughter Alisa.

Wilensky's Special

The famous Wilensky's special sandwich is a grilled

bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

sandwich. It was included in ''

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Co. (formerly Wyndham Destinations, Inc., and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation) is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation owners ...

'' magazine's May 2012 edition's article about the 'Best Sandwiches From Around the World', written by Jonathan Gold. It was also featured in the second episode of

David Chang David Chang (; ; born August 5, 1977) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, podcaster, and television personality. He is the founder of the Momofuku restaurant group. In 2009, his restaurant Momofuku Ko was awarded two Michelin st ...

and

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain ( ; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author and Travel documentary, travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the huma ...

's PBS series ''

The Mind of a Chef ''The Mind of a Chef'' is a non-fiction television series on PBS narrated and executive produced by Anthony Bourdain, and combines travel, cooking, history, and science. Each season follows a different chef, or pair of chefs, and examines their b ...

'', with Bourdain visiting again for another Wilensky's special as part of the Quebec episode of '' Parts Unknown''.

Gallery

File:Wilensky's - Ruth Wilensky 01.jpg, Ruth Wilensky File:Wilensky's - 1.jpg, Two opened ''Wilensky's Specials'', a dill pickle, and a cherry coke File:Wilensky's - 6.jpg, Sandwich with beef salami and bologna File:Wilensky's - 2.jpg, Wilensky's interior with back wall File:Wilensky's - 3.jpg, Wilensky's interior with side wall File:Wilensky's - 4.jpg, Wilensky's entryway

References

External links