[ Editor's note: Eli Herscovitch is a   well-known Winnipeg musician who  plays Soprano, Alto and Tenor Saxophones, Clarinet, Flute, Guitar, and Blues Harmonica. He was born in Montreal,received his Bachelor of Music from McGill University and Bachelor of Education from the University of Regina.  Occasionally, Eli is compelled to return back to his birth place and rekindle his links with family, friends, Montreal Bagels and Smoked Meat.]

In the year 1962,  President John F. Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected, “Return To Sender”   by Elvis Presley was an instant hit, and the province of Quebec was experiencing a Quiet Revolution.  Business was good.

In Montreal, at the back of a large supermarket on St Laurence Street, immigrant employees were busy unpacking boxes of fresh fruit that just arrived from distant lands. Nearby, an old man stands, cutting meat on a wooden board.  His large knife rises and falls over a massive slab of beef with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat. Each slice is perfect.

Yes, there were slicing machines, but as long as the supermarket’s owner was still alive, Jack’s job was secure. After all, he’d been working there since they first opened. And business was good.

Jack was quiet and a co-worker once made a passing comment, “Hey, look at the old man with a blank look in his eyes”.  He couldn’t be have been  more wrong. While slicing, Jack was usually remembering his golden years and you might notice a tiny smile from time to time or a tear.

His family came from Bialystock, Poland where they were poor for many generations. His father was no exception.  For years he made a meager living by selling food from a small wagon, pulled by a lame horse. Every day he found a spot on the street where workers might pass, wanting a quick lunch that was not too expensive. His best item was always a delicious, home made smoked meat sandwich. His wife’s special recipe.

The poor folks of Eastern Europe called America the Land of Milk and Honey. Ha, that’s where they all hoped to go, and get rich quick! So when Jack’s family arrived in Montreal, his father immediately went into debt, to open a small restaurant on Park Avenue, just one block from Mount Royal’s beautiful park. Yes, his menu would offer more than milk and honey.  Of course, he would feature a delicious hot smoked meat sandwich, on fresh rye bread, with a large dill pickle (kosher style)!  That’s the way he always imagined it, but in Bialystock it was impossible for a horse to drag a meat steamer and a food cart.

Jack and his brother remembered their early childhood days as being wonderful. But in reality, it was tough going. At the start, when business was slow, their father complained bitterly and when things got better, he complained even more, saying that it was much too much stress to keep up with.
                                                       

Their beautiful mother originally wanted to be a singer since she had an exceptional voice. Now she worked at the cash and cleaned tables, while young Jack and his brother played at her feet. Occasionally she looked down lovingly and said, “One day this will be yours and you’ll do a great job together, making it famous”. 

Uncle Mendel, their father’s brother also worked at the restaurant, but he was a problem. He loved life too much and it got in the way of working a “normal” ten hour day. His two favorite things were taking a drink and taking a “loan” from the cash register. Jack might look up while slicing behind the counter to discover, in shock, that his brother was gone. Mendel was “doing business” on the phone most of his working day, so if he got a hot tip on the horses, he would take a “short” break to visit  Blue Bonnets race track. After all, who could afford to miss out on a winning bet?

As soon as the boys were old enough, they helped by giving their “free” time. The older brother was the smart one, so he worked at the cash register while Jack swept the floor, until one day, by chance, it was discovered that he had a natural talent for handling his father’s large slicing knifes.
By the age of fourteen he was getting lots of friendly attention from the customers for his extraordinary skill.  Jack’s personality was shy and sweet and he was actually helping bring in customers!  Meanwhile, his older brother worked hard at the cash register day after day, invisible to all. 

 Both brothers graduated from Baron Byng High School. The older one was lucky and got a grant to study finance and economics at McGill University. He had big dreams, while Jack continued as before, working behind the counter. Life was good.

The delicious smoked meat’s reputation traveled far and wide, and the range of customers grew. There might be seated, a hungry worker, tourists looking for a taste of Montreal, politicians looking for votes, successful folks from the suburbs,  police on break time, the occasional gangster, also on break.  and people just dropping by for a bite and then off to visit their old neighborhood

The restaurant’s design was very basic. There were a dozen long tables with six chairs on each side.  When a seat became available, it was immediately taken by the next hungry customer, so you might be sitting beside anyone…. a dentist, a lawyer, or even a young Leonard Cohen. While holding a sandwich in his hand between bites, he Cohen migh have been musing over lyrics for his first big hit, Suzanne.

Business was going well, and then one day, their father had a heart attack when he noticed cash missing from the register. At the same time uncle Mendel disappeared and about a year later they heard that he was living in Florida.

 It was a heart wrenching shock for the entire family.  First, the older brother had to immediately quit McGill because now there was a serious worry about the restaurant’s survival. It was painfully clear that the only option was for the brothers to work as partners and keep the business alive. For Jack, it was like a dream come true; However, his older brother saw it as a nightmare that cut his future down by a thick slice or two. But there was little choice.

Both brothers knew it was impossible to step into their father’s shoes with such a large menu, so they made their first big decision together. The new menu would  be very basic and offer only the most popular item - smoked meat.  Either a fat sandwich with a dill pickle (kosher style) or a large plate of smoked meat slices, with rye bread on the side and of course a dill pickle. The new menu almost gave their father another heart attack! But there was no choice.

To everyone’s surprise, business improved! Jack cut slices of steamed beef as fast as lightning and their restaurant became a city legend.  Both day and night hungry customers lined up outside, waiting for a seat and a delicious taste of Smoked Meat Heaven

Thanks to Jack’s warm personality behind the counter, everyone felt at home- staff and customers.

One day a very old, but solid looking man got up after eating and loudly announced, “tomorrow is my 100th birthday!” The whole place got quiet and after a second or two Jack responded from behind the counter, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Happy Birthday!

If you’re 100 years old, at Smoked Meat Heaven you eat for free!” and then he added, “and when you’re 125, we give you the restaurant!” The whole place started laughing and clapping. For some reason, Jack’s brother didn’t find it so funny. The look on his face was far from a smile.
 
Business was good and they decided to hire some much needed help.

When two attractive young women applied for the job of waitress, it was no surprise that the brothers hired them immediately. One was Jewish and the other French Canadian. 

Jack’s brother worked hard but never recovered from his lost opportunity to graduate from McGill with a finance degree that would ‘get him rich’. He noticed Jack’s ability to share a friendly smile with everyone, especially how easily both waitress smiled back when they picked up a sandwich at the counter. Meanwhile, he worked at the cash register where it was always serious business.  It began to eat away at his gut.

One day he asked the French waitress out, for an evening soiree (in English – a Date!) and she accepted. He never bothered to really get to know her.  “Hey, why make the effort”, he thought, “since she was probably an ‘easy’ girl”.  He couldn’t have been more wrong. On their first date, it was like miserably failing a French test. She was not that kind of girl!
 
Then, he turned his attention to the Jewish waitress and took more time to engage her in casual conversation. He wanted to impress her and used fancy business jargon, taken from the pages of his 101 economics text book, back when he was a student at McGill. On their first night out he was so sure of ‘success’, but she mentioned Jack’s name far too often and the acid in his gut started rising.

 After a few more weeks at work he saw their true warmth for each other and started thinking, “Why should my stupid brother be so happy?!”   Every day, Jack’s smile put him in a darker mood and eventually it drove him over the edge.

Early one morning when Jack arrived at the restaurant’s back door, it was very odd that his key didn’t work, so he knocked, hoping his brother was inside to let him in. The door opened quickly but his brother stood firm, blocking the entry with a very odd expression.

 Then he spoke. “Hey, putz, let’s see if you’ll smile at this. I went to a lawyer yesterday and made a legal contract that says I’m the only owner of the restaurant. Jack, you’re out and the recipe is mine!  Do you think you’re the only one who can slice a slab of beef? You shmuck, I already replaced you, so get out of here, right now! And I don’t to want see your face, again - ever!”

The door slammed shut and Jack stood there in shock.   Unable to move, he just stared at the wall for a long time. Eventually, the other staff arrived and immediately saw that something terrible had happened. The Jewish waitress took Jack’s hand and led him to a nearby bench on Mount Royal. 

He took a sip of cool water from the drinking fountain and told her everything.  She listened and then said that she loved him and he shouldn’t worry.  She was confident they would be ok, doing anything he wanted…without his brother’s help.

Soon they married and Jack’s family didn’t invite the older brother to the wedding. During the speeches his father said that a heart attack could never compare to the pain caused by his older son’s heartless betrayal.
 
Jack and his beautiful wife opened their own small restaurant, several blocks from the original, now a legendary Heaven of smoked meat, that he had helped create. Their new restaurant was doing average at best, but there was never a complaint because love was in the air. Soon, his wife got pregnant and Jack was left alone to take full responsibility, from cooking soup to keeping financial records. He gave it his best try because soon he will have a growing family to support.

                                                        
Meanwhile, down the street, at “Smoked Meat Heaven”, his older brother was busy cooking the books with the beef. He may not have had a university degree, but he knew a thing or two …or so he thought. He developed  a fancy lifestyle that included some very hot business investments and had expensive  ‘girl friends’. None of which seemed to last very long.

His deepest desire was to be accepted by the upper crust of Montreal. One day he got an invitation to attend a private, late night party at the finest downtown hotel, the Queen   The note also mentioned a “little” card game, so he decided to bring plenty cash. Of course gambling was illegal in Quebec but it  saturated every level of society. This was his ticket to be noticed.

Montrealers love hockey, and for years there was a very popular lottery that made every second of the game a possible winning number. Bon chance mes amis! It was operated and owned by the same folks who ran the illegal card game at the Queen .
  
At about midnight, Jack’s brother entered the Queen hotel's  lobby. He showed the desk clerk his invitation and was directed to the penthouse.  When the elevator door opened, it was like something he’d only seen in movies. A beautiful woman took his jacket and directed him to a table with six gentlemen seated, already playing cards. Another beautiful woman offered him a fancy drink and another traded his cash for chips.

He noticed a few rough looking guys sitting at the back, playing their own game. A chair was pulled out for him to be seated and someone who he’d never met welcomed him, as Le Jeuif from Smoked Meat Heaven.  Everyone smiled and made a throat noise as if they were sampling something delicious. “mmmmm”  Then the game continued in silence.

His winning cards came and went and whenever he was loosing badly, an attractive woman came over and sat very close beside him, purring like a kitten. And sure enough, each time his luck improved. This continued for hours, like riding a roller coaster.

When not sweating over his cards he looked up to see who the other players were.  First he recognized the secretary to the Minister of Health. There was also an off duty police officer. Next to the cop sat a fellow who was terribly overdressed. Turns out, he’ was a successful producer for a new popular music show on television. The others all seemed upper crust….of sorts. 
                                                              
When the evening ended, he left his chair with a hundred more than he started, plus an invitation to return.  Someone helped him on with his jacket, and gave him a cigar. It felt like he had finally arrived,.This new friendship was worth more than winning the money!

Meanwhile, things weren’t going so well for his younger brother. Jack didn’t have the skills required to slice a brisket and cut through the financial side of making a profit. Shortly after his wife gave birth he had to give up the restaurant. He walked the streets looking for work and got lucky when a new supermarket on St. Laurence St. needed someone with experience to slice meat.

 The work was easy and Jack could do it in his sleep.  This was a major step down from his dreams but it paid the bills and his wife loved him no less.

For a while, the older brother managed to lie about his nasty falling out with Jack. He wanted to sustain a positive  image for Smoked Meat Heaven, and keep the happy customers coming. But the truth eventually leaked out! The news also got to his fancy new friends at the card table. The crime syndicate had a unique moral code; they lost all respect for someone who robbed from his own brother.

At the next friendly card game, things seemed to start well, but gradually his pile of chips shrank.  At one point there were two women cuddled close and  whispering sweet words for him to raise the steaks (no pun intended). Eventually, they got him really going but he didn’t have enough cash, so he put Smoked Meat Heaven on the line, expecting to win big.

He would spend the rest of his life reviewing that moment over and over, trying to understand how he lost everything he had ever worked for, with just the flip of a card. Getting up from the table, a broken man, he thought he heard someone offer his empty seat to the next hungry customer…..Then the door slammed shut behind him.

Back in the present, Jack was slicing beef at the supermarket, steady as a rock. You might  have notice a small tear in his eye. Then he heard a familiar voice and looked up to see his wife, arriving at noon, as usual.  “Jack, come sit, dear. Let’s eat and talk. I madde you a delicious lunch”.

And what about Smoked Meat Heaven?  It turned out that running that type of restaurant required a big heart and a dedicated effort. From a business point of view, there weree better options, so the land was sold and Heaven was torn down – replaced by a Dairy Queen! 

And business was good.