"Hello!!"

"I'd like to come try the food but I'm mindful where I spent my money these days."

"I saw your restaurant on the boycott list but I wanted to confirm with you what your views are about the genocide in Palestine [as the boycott lists might be misinformed]."

"Look forward to hearing back."

"Thank you!" 

Enquiry on Instagram by prospective diner

 

"Are we serving politics with a side of pancakes now?"

"There's a boycott list that's been going around since October 7. I don't think I can do anything about it. I think no matter what you do, people will assume a lot of things about you and your policies and your politics."

"I've been very adamant about not discussing politics, I definitely don't want that to define us. I just thought it was interesting that we were receiving that line of questioning, and I was fairly certain that other fellow restaurateurs were not receiving the same line of questioning."

"I don't hide the fact that I'm Jewish, right? I don't think I should have to. Absolutely not. No. But I also don't think I need to discuss foreign policy in order to conduct business in Montreal, Quebec."

"We all just want to make great food, feed our families, go home."

Raegan Steinberg, chief, restaurateur, Montrealer 

Is this normal? Is this the new normal?, Chef Raegan Steinberg asks in a social media post. nationalpost.com 

 

A fourth generation Canadian, Raegan Steinberg was inspired by her father whose influence on her future profession led to her pursuing culinary training at the Art Institute of Vancouver, on her professional journey to becoming an acclaimed chef. When she returned to Montreal, she began her adventures in creative cuisine by taking employment at the well-known Joe Beef establishment. 

 

After receiving that enquiry through Instagram recently, she gave thought to why she was being queried in such a manner, and how she should proceed. Those thoughts prompted her to reach out to others in the profession in the city. She spoke in turn with a number of fellow Montreal restaurateurs and chefs, the majority of whom hadn't been tasked to respond to such questions as a preliminary to hosting a potential client who prior to committing themselves to a meal demanded to be informed of their possible relationship with Israel.

 

"Jewish restaurants were definitely a higher percentage of the few people that I spoke to", she explained in an interview, "but I think that some Jewish restaurants are more targeted than others". Possibly as a result of those that are targeted being known for their popularity reflecting the quality of their menu choices and expert food preparation. Ms. Steinberg is referred to as "a top chef" by Tastet, a Canadian restaurant guide.

 

fplmtl  Filipinos for Palestinian Liberation

 

🫒🇵🇸 Before you go out to eat in Montreal, make sure the owner doesn’t support a military regime responsible for the genocide of tens of thousands of Palestinians 😵‍💫 Many of these restaurants also claim to serve “Israeli” food and wine.

 

She is, as well, the operator of three popular restaurants in the Montreal area: Arthurs Nosh Bar in Saint-Henri, Dirty Greens and Arthurs Nosh Bar at Le Cathcart, as well as Romies located in Old Montreal.  Perhaps being associated with those well-known and successful  enterprises might lead those who look to punish entrepreneurs whose expert skills make them public figure of note in their professions, should they be rash enough to risk all by publicly stating an allegiance to Israel.

 

She and her partner opened Back of House Catering as a preliminary to opening their first Arthurs Nosh Bar in 2015 which became a Montreal brunch staple on Notre-Dame Street West. The restaurant named after her father as a tribute to him, offering Jewish cuisine seen through a Moroccan gustatory lens. 

 

That successful venture was followed by Dirty Greens at Le Cathcart where gourmet salads are featured. Raegan and partner Alexandre Cohen opened Romies in 2024, a contemporary American bistro, That was followed by Arthur's Dinette in the NDG neighbourhood in 2026.  Well and truly established. Truly successful ventures by food-adventurous and food-knowledgeable professionals whose services to the public rewarded them amply.

 

Chef Raegan Steinberg filming an Instagram reel in one of her Montreal restaurants. Photo by Instagram

 

"I don’t think there’s like a negative stain on us or anything like that."

"We’re very happy, you know. I just think it’s important for people to know what goes on behind the scenes sometimes."

Chef Raegan Steinberg  

While nothing could quite prepare them and other Jewish-owned businesses from the malevolently ignorant harassment and poisonous charges of 'genocide' that accompany Jews in Canada living out their lives in the years since Palestinian terrorists launched a horrific maelstrom of mass rape, savage murder and hostage-taking of Israeli children, teens, elderly, foreign farm workers and members of the IDF, kept in inhumane conditions in Gaza, tormented by their captors while awaiting eventual release from captivity. 

 

Arthurs Nosh Bar, Tripadvisor