Celine Dion, husband among new owners of famous Montreal restaurant
MONTREAL - Singer Celine Dion is part of a consortium that has purchased a landmark Montreal restaurant.
The Quebec diva and her husband, Rene Angelil, have teamed up with other investors to buy Schwartz's, a downtown smoked-meat deli.
The establishment is famous amongst Montrealers, and tourists, in part because of its smoked-meat sandwiches and also because of its throwback appeal.
Founded in 1928, the St. Lawrence Boulevard shop regularly draws long lineups of tourists eager to grab a seat in a place that looks untouched by the passing decades.
In a news release announcing the transaction, Angelil shares his memory of first going to Schwartz's in 1961.
He promises not to allow for franchises, and to keep the authenticity of the establishment.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
The release did unintentionally signal one break with tradition, however: it misspelled the name of the Romanian Jewish immigrant who founded the restaurant, Reuben Schwartz.
