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I'll get the dinner party conversation started this week! Another one of my favorite delis is also in Montreal: Sabor Latino! Sabor Latino is a Colombian, Mexican and Latin American supermarket, butcher shop, bakery AND restaurant with the most amazing deli counter. Their food is fantastic. No matter how freezing it was during those Montreal winters, it was always a good day when Ryan Wildstar walked in with a steaming bag of fresh carnitas from Sabor Latino. So delicious! https://www.saborlatinostlaurent.com/

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Oh how I miss the Sabor Latino! It was one of my favorite shopping spots in Montreal when we lived there. Now I'm craving a bag of hot chicharrones with lime and hot sauce!

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So tasty! I remember you stopped in there almost every day, sometimes just to check in hoping the carnitas hadn't sold out yet.

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I would be remiss if I didn't mention my other favorite Jewish deli in Los Angeles - Art's Delicatessen in Studio City. My dad and I used to meet my uncle for breakfast at Art's (he lived down the street) when I first moved to Los Angeles. I have very fond memories of potato pancakes, bagels and lox and matzo ball soup there!

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I love Art's! Sometimes we'd do a perfect day in Studio City - starting with brunch at Art's, followed by a game of air hockey at the nearby "rock n' roll" bowling alley, then a trip to our favorite video store to line up our movie picks for the week. Fun times!

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Definitely fun times!!!

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I bet I know which video store in Stud City you went to. If it wasn't on Ventura Blvd, was it the one at the crotch of Lankershim and Vineland?

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We went to both! Hahaha

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Tip of my tongue on the name of the LankerVine store. They had a large selection.

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Oh hell yeah! When I lived in Sherman Oaks, I used to go to Art's Deli, and Solleys. Langer's Deli on, was it 7th and Alvarado? was beyond my expectation, based on it's location.

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Langers! My Dad and I used to live around the corner from that place too (right off MaCarthur Park), when I first moved to LA. I loved Langers and I used to eat there all the time! Terrific deli!

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Langer's! Another great L.A. deli!

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I have fortunately had the pleasure of eating at both Canter's in LA and Schwartz's Deli in Montreal. Another favorite has to be L'As du Fallafel in the Marais neighborhood of Paris. Falafels for Sunday brunch--yum!

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L'As du Fallafel is an institution in Paris! Like you, we've spent many a Sunday over the past 24 years queued up for one of their inimitable falafels! Great choice!

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L'As du Fallafel! Possibly the best falafel on the planet? And recommended by Lenny Kravitz!

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That's a thoughtful gift of poetry for a birthday, Ryan.

A few years back, I bought some tequila, but no mixer. It wasn't a sipping tequila, hence the mixer! Clare Glidden & I drank cosmopolitans, with a lime twist with Stoli and cranberry. In Barcelona, I managed to find a decent cranberry juice which I drank regularly. The juice was all I had on hand so I mixed it with the tequila and voila! I had no idea I was drinking a Red Needle! It was tasty, tastier than cosmos. Mind if I ask you what tequila you used?

Nothing says kitsch like Canter's Deli. We've probably been in that restaurant at some point at the same time and never knew it. What a hangout. I'd see Rodney Bingenheimer there with a few teenage girls. There was always that one waitress, with the dyed black hair? She had the personality of a stop sign with glitter on it?

I often ordered the pastrami on rye with slaw and a side of slaw with a potato and kasha knish. OMG! that panel-lit ceiling. I'm happy you picked Canters. It really is the one of the few ultimate landmarks in L.A.

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Yeah, the ceilings at Canters are a marvel unto themselves! And I totally remember the waitress with the dyed black hair! We called her "tank!" Gods, I miss Canters!

As for the tequila, we just used an inexpensive blanco we got at the supermarket. Booze is so expensive here. I think it was called Sierra. Nothing to write home about but once you put in the cranberry, it's pretty hard to tell the difference (until the next day!).

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Oh and that "next day." I picked up an inexpensive blanco here. I wish they had Patrón Silver. Booze is expensive here too. The single malt anything is through the roof.

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I wonder if Piper Laurie used the Mysteriosa or Portraite de Madame Stuart Merrill, as her inspiration of Sissy Spacek's mother in "Carrie."

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I love Leonard Cohen, but then who doesn’t! It was lovely hearing you read that poem of his, and about his concert in London on you tube

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Thank you. I know, he's pretty beloved, right? It's a great concert, check it out!

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My favorite sandwich shop was a Bahndal mi in Seattle. I’d never had Vietnamese sandwiches before that. I ate there all the time as it was near my office

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Love bahn mi sandwiches! They're so addictive, no wonder you ate there all the time!. Do you remember the name of the one you ate at?

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