Behind The Curtain (12 May, 2023)
Accessible audio for this week’s Behind The Curtain will be available soon!
“I’ll tell you a little secret. Yes, Schwartz’s is good, but you’ll probably have to wait in line. If you want even better Montreal smoked meat, just go directly across the street to The Main. It’s open late, and if you’re going together, I recommend sharing the smoked meat platter.”
I must have said that line hundreds of times to out-of-town friends, visiting performers, and assorted guests in our city that I encountered. It’s right up as one of my favourite things to do, along with explaining the Canadian political system to Americans (those who ask me about it, I don’t political nerd-splain unsolicited). I never had to explain The Main’s advantage over Schwartz to lifelong Montrealers or anyone who’s lived here for a decent amount of time, especially those who have ever been out late looking for a place to eat when the bars close on the Plateau. We just know. Sadly, now, we just knew.
Late Monday, news broke that The Main Deli and Steak House, a Boulevard St-Laurent staple which opened in 1974, had closed for good. Another Montreal icon bites the dust. In particular, a Montreal icon for Montrealers who appreciate eating good local food in an unpretentious environment where you can sit down and feel comfortable at all hours. We’ve all got our Main memories. For some, it’s running into another late Montreal icon, Leonard Cohen, there. For me, it’s sharing the aforementioned smoked meat platter with a friend or two after a night of drinking on the Main more than once. We’re talking about a make-your-own-sandwich experience, which, at 2am, is akin to raiding your fridge at home, but everything is freshly prepared and you’re still out with friends. You get a bunch of smoked meat, prepared as you like it, a stack of rye bread, mustard,a few pickles (never enough, until you ask for more), and some coleslaw. Stack ‘em as you like. The bread will always run out before the meat does. Wash the whole experience down with a Cott Black Cherry.
Of course, smoked meat isn’t all they had. I know from experience they made a mean grilled cheese sandwich, and the place did have “steak house” in its name, so it’s a good bet they had some great steaks, too. And then there are those, like our Editor-in-Chief Dawn McSweeney, who liked this spot for other reasons. I’ll let her all-caps scream her menu choice at you and prove that everyone can be a boomer when hungry:
Dawn wasn’t the only one taking to social media on this issue. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to weigh in. And yes, I embedded your tweet, Dawn, before the PM’s. That should get me off the hook for the boomer comment, right Andrew? (Editor’s Note: I like when y’all fight.)
While the cynic in me wants to think that our PM is just trying to sound like a real Montrealer, he did visit The Main for a photo op in 2021, a few days before he did the same at Schwartz, so fair play, he does get Montreal and has good food tastes. I’m still not voting for him. Of course, the PM’s tweet set off the expected firestorm of comments. Some fairly asked why he was focusing on this and not the wildfires in Alberta, and others blamed him personally for the closure due to high food prices and labour costs.
Meanwhile I’ve seen others online blame this on lack of parking spaces and Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s bike-friendly policies. Now this is the type of restaurant that pulls its customers from people in the area or those who are already out on St-Laurent, locals and tourists alike. So while the food price thing may have something to do with the closure, the bike thing most certainly does not.
Honestly, I don’t know why The Main closed its doors. No one does. I’ve seen comments online that when it changed ownership out of the original family that owned it about a decade ago, the food quality and service suffered, while prices increased. Since the last time I had a smoked meat platter there, it still cost $11 plus the drink, and tasted great, I can’t attest to that personally. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s a combination of things: enduring the pandemic as a sit-down greasy spoon popular after dark, higher food prices combined with their popularity partially derived from affordability, the change in ownership maybe, and rent (I have no clue if they rent or own, tbh). These are all just guesses.
I haven’t lived in the Plateau since late 2012, so St-Laurent isn’t my primary scene anymore. I have been to The Main since, but not recently (and for smaller orders). But I’m still sad to see it go, just as I was when Casse-Croute du Coin (aka Moe’s) near Atwater closed. This isn’t just the loss of a Montreal icon, it’s the loss of a real down-to-earth spot that I enjoyed, as did many others. I’ll still have my memories, but I’m hungry for new ones and sad that I won’t get them like before. I also wonder, when an out-of-town guest asks me about Schwartz, if I’ll tell them first about the place they missed out on.
NOTES THIS WEEK
Notre-Dame-de-Laugh: NDG will once again be a cultural hotspot in the city very soon. I’m previewing Porchfest NDG early next week and will be attending the event the following weekend, which is also when the first-ever NDG Comedy Fest takes place. This event features up-and-coming local comedic talent as well as veteran (they are “I saw them play the Centaur when still in high school” level vets) Montreal musical comics Bower and Blue. New FTB contributor Sarah Warren previews this event and speaks with organizer Walter J. Lyng in this feature. Plus, we’ve got banners up all over the site, so you can’t miss it.
Car-Free Old Montreal: Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante kicked off the Montreal Climate Summit on Tuesday by promising that Old Montreal will become a "pedestrian kingdom" starting with one sector of the historic district going car-free by 2024. While the plans aren’t concrete yet, and still need the input of local stakeholders, it makes sense that pedestrianizing such an easily walkable area would be a welcome step by local businesses and could be a blueprint for turning other areas, and not just arteries, car-free.
Fringe Lotto Deets: Last week, I mentioned that, as part of our partnership with the Montreal Fringe, we are choosing which shows to review via lotto. I didn’t really go into that much detail, and I think I even said “send us an email”, which is not what you’re supposed to do, ehm, Andrew (Editor’s Note: I just check for typos, the rest is all you). Well, if you have a show in the Fringe or OFF-Fringe and fill out our form before May 24th at midnight, you’ll be entered into the draw. We’ll be picking 30 shows, over a quarter of the whole festival, and our team will review each of them on the site. And by we, I mean we, as I am part of the committee that will be drawing the names, so you can always grease the wheels a bit if ya know what I mean (Editor’s Note: No. DO NOT bribe Jason, the lottery is fair and the draw is random). Just making sure you’re paying attention, Andrew! You can access the form and submit your show here: Forget The Box FringeMTL Review Lottery
RIP Hollywood: I learned through various social media posts that Hollywood (aka the “banana gun guy”), has passed away at age 66. His real name was Perry Brian West, and he returned home to Halifax a few years ago, after spending 30 years in our city. In that time, he amassed quite a reputation, a highly local celebrity and a total character that anyone who hung out downtown in the 90s, early 2000s or 2010s won’t forget. Whether he was asking for change (“It’s for alcohol, I swear!”), diffusing a tense situation with humour (I’ve heard stories), or helping people out, he always did so with a cheery disposition that could really bring up anyone’s mood. He will be missed by his family, friends, and all of his “bruthahs from anothah muthah”. You can read his official obituary HERE, and donations can be made in his name to the Africville Heritage Trust Museum.
Hollywood wouldn’t want us to end on a sad note, so here’s to the weather, and all the great things happening in Montreal this weekend! Get out there and enjoy! That’s it for the first post-Main Deli Behind The Curtain. See you next Friday!
FTB Founder Jason C. McLean will return every Friday for another installment in his series, Behind The Curtain.
