Al’s Deli officially opened on September 23. Owned by Aleks Lazic and a close group of shareholders, he purchased an existing business. Lazic got the keys on a Friday and opened the doors on the Monday. Along with a colleague they repainted, redecorated, and did it all themselves in two days.
As a chef, Lazic trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris Cooking School, worked around Australia, Fiji, and England. Currently around 25 people make up the team at Al’s. While Lazic ultimately has the final say on the menu and designed it, Carson Donaldson runs the kitchen day to day. It is all home made products, featuring food inspired from classic Montreal delis and bagels. The menu also features a donut range, healthy grab-and-go lunch boxes, gluten free, paleo, dairy free puddings, sandwiches, and slabs of a Montreal classic tomato pie, which is essentially cheese-less pizza with a rich tomato sauce.
“We cure and smoke our own bacon, salmon, pastrami. Bake our own sourdough rye bread, bagels, doughnuts. It’s all traditional and the real deal,” Lazic said.
The fit out was existing, but Lazic changed the colour schemes and furniture to suit his style. Lazic is from Montreal, and grew up in the new European immigrant areas of Montreal in the 70s, so all the food is homemade and authentic.
“I said I wanted the restaurant to look like a cooler version of my Grandmother’s kitchen. So we have vintage chairs and a retro theme,” Lazic said.
Al’s Deli
