Dunn's Famous Deli and Steakhouse is a chain of

Jewish deli A Jewish deli, also known as a Jewish delicatessen, is a store that serves various traditional dishes of Jewish cuisine, mostly Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. Known for their robust sandwiches, such as pastrami on rye and Reuben sandwiches, they also ...

s serving

Montreal-style smoked meat Montreal-style smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat or (mainly in Quebec) simply smoked meat (French: ''viande fumée'', ''smoked meat'', or sometimes ''bœuf mariné'', literally "marinated beef") is a type of kosher-style deli meat product mad ...

pastrami Pastrami is a type of cured meat originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. Like corned beef, pastrami was created as a way to pres ...

and

cheesecake Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese, quark or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, ...

founded 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 Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, by Myer Dunn. The chain currently has locations in Montreal, and one in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

History

Dunn, who immigrated to Canada in 1911, opened his first restaurant in 1927 on

Avenue Papineau Papineau Avenue () is the longest north–south street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The part of the street between Henri Bourassa Boulevard and Quebec Autoroute 40 is the Montreal portion of Quebec Autoroute 19, commonly referred to as '' Autoro ...

near Avenue du Mont-Royal. 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 ( ) () 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 Maisonneuve Boulevard in Wes ...

West. The storefront windows were famous for the top-to-bottom stacks of large jars full of hot banana peppers.Downtown Montreal - Phillips Square
/ref> 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 two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

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

, eventually stopping its promotion of

Pastrami Pastrami is a type of cured meat originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. Like corned beef, pastrami was created as a way to pres ...

. The iconic

deli closed in 1998, though Dunn's grandson re-opened the establishment in 2000 at a larger space nearby on Metcalfe Street. This move was controversial, as it turned off many loyal customers who preferred the nostalgia of the old location despite the overcrowding. Other longtime deli competitors,

Schwartz's Schwartz's, also known as the Schwartz's Deli and the Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen, is a Jewish delicatessen restaurant and take-out, located on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was established in 1928, by Reuben Schwart ...

and Main Deli, quashed relocation and franchising plans due to the potential backlash of diluting their iconic brands.

Franchising

Ina Devine, daughter of Aideh Dunn, had franchised the restaurant outside Quebec, with several locations in Ontario and one in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, however, today, none remain open. The smoked meat is not prepared in-house at these locations, but it is instead shipped frozen from Montreal and then warmed out before servin

Elliot Kligman currently has five franchises in Quebec and also offers Dunn's brand products to retail sellers.

Quebec language dispute

When the controversial

Charter of the French Language The ''Charter of the French Language'' (, ), also known as Bill 101 (, ), is a law in the Canadian province of Quebec defining French, the language of the majority of the population, as the official language of the provincial government. It is th ...

(Bill 101) became law in 1977, the ''

Office québécois de la langue française The (, OQLF; ) is an agency of the Quebec provincial government charged with ensuring legislative requirements with respect to the right to use French are respected. Established on 24 March 1961 by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage, the ...

'' (OQLF) took action against Dunn's and other stores retailing imported kosher goods that did not meet its labelling requirements, an action perceived in the Jewish community as an unfair targeting and

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. This coincided with a high-profile case brought by the OQLF against Dunn's due to the apostrophe in the establishment's sign, which remains. Dunn's also got in trouble with the OQLF for having the English word, "Smoked Meat" on the sign out front. Dunn's, along with other well-known delicatessen establishments, also fought a ruling to change the name of "Smoked Meat" to "Boeuf Mariné" in order to conform to

Quebec Language Law The ''Official Language Act'' of 1974 (), also known as Bill 22, was an act of the National Assembly of Quebec, commissioned by Premier Robert Bourassa, which made French the sole official language of Quebec, Canada. Provincial desire for the '' ...

. They won the ruling by appeal by proving that if they didn't advertise "Smoked Meat" they would confuse and anger customers. A good example of this was

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 establishi ...

MNA

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

who himself ordered the sandwich by its English name. Due to the work of Myer 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, Paleolithic Era. Smoking adds Flavor (taste), flavor, improves the appearance of meat through the Maillard reaction, and ...

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. "Offici ...

References

External links

* {{Restaurants in Montreal 1927 establishments in Quebec Companies based in Montreal Jewish delicatessens in Canada Jews and Judaism in Montreal Restaurant chains in Canada Restaurants established in 1927 Restaurants in Montreal Ashkenazi Jewish restaurants

History

Franchising

Quebec language dispute

See also

References

External links