St-Viateur Bagel is a famous

Montreal-style bagel The Montreal-style bagel or Montreal bagel (sometimes beigel; ; ) is a distinctive variety of handmade and wood-fired baked bagel. In contrast to the New York-style bagel, the Montreal bagel is smaller, thinner, sweeter, and denser, with a la ...

bakery located in the neighbourhood of

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 ...

in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal,

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 ...

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, Canada.

History

St-Viateur Bagel was established on May 21, 1957 by Myer Lewkowicz, a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

who moved to Canada in 1953. Lewkowicz had grown up poor in a

shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

near

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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Lewkowicz spoke of his experience in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

influencing the opening of the shop by stating "At

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, all I dreamt of was a piece of bread". He learned the trade as an employee of Montreal Bagel Bakery, another local bagel shop owned by Hyman Seligman. The shop is named after the street it is located on, St-Viateur Street, and is one of the longest-running bagel shops in Montreal. In 1985 St-Viateur Bagel suffered an extensive fire, but the wood stove remained entirely intact. St-Viateur Bagel has two bakeries, three bagel cafés, a food truck, and an online store, in addition to the original storefront. In March 2019, the shop's Monkland Avenue café permanently closed due to the end of their 18-year lease and rising rent prices. Today, the bakery is owned by Joe Morena, who had previously worked at the shop for 15 years, and competed with the nearby Fairmount Bagel for the title of Montreal's best bagel. In 2017, St-Viateur Bagel celebrated its 60th anniversary.

Cultural significance

St-Viateur Bagel Shop lies on the border of the Jewish Quarter and the Mile End neighbourhood. In addition to St-Viateur Bagel Shop, Montreal's Jewish Quarter is also the home of Schwartz's deli, Moishes Steakhouse, Cheskie's Bakery, and Beauty's Luncheonette, all of which have a long history within the Jewish community in Montreal. A study done by the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

explains that the large influence of Jewish food in Montreal culinary culture is likely because of how inexpensive and widely-accessible items such as bagels and smoked meat were in Montreal in the early 20th century. This is due to the fact that there was a large Jewish immigrant population which put down roots along Boulevard St. Laurent. Professor of Theology Oliver Bauer of the

explains in the study that the roundness of a bagel represents infinity and immortality. It is because of this representation that bagels are often served at bris ceremonies—the celebration of a baby boy's circumcision—and at shiva gatherings—the mourning period after a death has occurred.

Bagel-making process

Since the shop opened in 1957, their process of producing bagels has stayed true to the original recipe. According to owner Joe Morena, each bagel is hand rolled individually, boiled in honey water for 30–60 seconds, dipped in seeds, and finally baked on a long wooden plank in a wood-burning oven. In contrast to the New York-style bagel which contains similar ingredients, the Montreal bagel differs in size, taste, and style: the Montreal bagel tends to be sweeter, thinner, and has a larger hole. The authentic wood-burning oven creates the crispy outer texture characteristic of a Montreal bagel. Piles of Flour

Bagels

St-Viateur sells several varieties of Montreal-style bagels including: plain, sesame, poppy, all dressed, whole wheat, cinnamon & raisin, rosemary & sea salt, blueberry, pumpernickel and muesli. Their website provides nutritional information on each bagel including ingredients and allergens. Each bagel ranges between 200 and 240 calories per 2 servings (1 serving is listed as half of a bagel). An order of two dozen bagels is priced between $22 and $25CAD.

In the media

The closing of the Monkland Village location of St-Viateur in March 2019 was widely reported across Montreal and National news outlets. In 2018, the ''Globe and Mail'' published an article detailing how wood-burning businesses that are unable to meet emission bylaw requirements will be forced to switch to gas or electric. The article cited St-Viateur among other traditional bagels shops which would be directly impacted by this development. St-Viateur Bagel has since installed a filter to reduce emissions and comply with updated local emissions bylaws. In 2020, St-Viateur Bagel was featured in an episode, season 3 episode 5, of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

show Somebody Feed Phil.

References

External links

St-Viateur Bagel
{{coord, 45, 31, 22, N, 73, 36, 07, W, region:CA_type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title 1957 establishments in Quebec Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Montreal Bagel companies Montreal cuisine History of Montreal Landmarks in Montreal Bakeries of Canada Jewish Canadian history Jews and Judaism in Montreal Le Plateau-Mont-Royal Polish-Jewish culture in Canada Shops in Montreal Industrial buildings and structures in Montreal