Montreal bagel wars: The rival bakeries dividing a neighborhood
St-Viateur vs. Fairmount: Montreal bagels have become part of the city's culinary heritage, but locals are divided by their love of two bakeries in the city's Mile End neighborhood.
Courtesy David De Stefano
Fairmount Bagel: The hugely popular Fairmount Bagel, Montreal's first bagel shop, celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2019.
Courtesy Fairmount Bagel
St-Viateur: But it's been facing stiff competition from St-Viateur, located just around the corner, since 1957.
Courtesy Anthony J
Top of their game: "Fairmount has been around for longer and I find it admirable that they're still at the top of their game after so long," says Gianni Pezzulo, a local business owner.
Courtesy Fairmount Bagel
Sweet and hot: "St-Viateur's [bagels] are less chewy and not as dense," says food writer Marcella De Vincenzo. "They're also a tiny bit sweeter and you can always get warm ones."
Courtesy David De Stefano
St-Viateur vs. Fairmount: The owners of both establishments says they have a good relationship and have even donated ingredients to each other in the past.
Courtesy Fairmount Bagel
St-Viateur vs. Fairmount: "Whomever you were introduced to first as a child, is where your loyalty lies," says Robert Morena, one of St. Viateur bakery's owners.
Courtesy David De Stefano
St-Viateur vs. Fairmount: But only one of the two bakeries can lay claim to producing the first bagel to go into space. Montreal-born astronaut Greg Chamitoff brought a batch of Fairmount bagels into orbit.