‘Mr. Boustan’ sells his resto
Exhausted owner of Crescent St. eatery carves his last shawarma, Bill Brownstein reports.
Mr. Boustan did his last carvings on his shawarma spits in the early hours of Sunday morning. Following the recent sale of Schwartz’s deli, another of the city’s most popular eateries, Boustan, has changed ownership hands.
Imad Smaidi (known to his disciples simply as Mr. Boustan) has sold his Crescent St. resto, arguably the purveyor of this city’s finest Lebanese fast food, to three local businessmen, including the father-son team of George and Peter Hatzis.
Boustan, which Smaidi started in 1986, was closed Sunday afternoon and evening and will reopen Monday with the same staff, but with the Hatzis replacing Smaidi on the cash and spits.
A year ago, Smaidi, 56, announced he was looking for a buyer. He was exhausted, working up to 18-hour days, often seven days a week. He had hoped his two sons, Fadi and Jamal, would take over the business, but both had other ideas. So, after fielding several offers, he finally sold last week for an undisclosed sum.
“It feels a little weird. I just got up and for the first time in 26 years, I have nowhere to go,” Smaidi, 56, said Sunday afternoon, having slept only four hours. “I am a little nervous about my future. Maybe I will do some consulting.
“I could have gone longer at this pace, but my goal wasn’t to end up in the Guinness Book of Records. I was afraid that if I got sick, there would be no one there to take up the slack.”
Smaidi did much more than serve up some of the tastiest falafel and chicken shawarma – he made certain that customers were aware of the proper appellation for the latter and that they not call it shish taouk. But he also served as a sounding board for hungry students and/or hungover night owls, to whom he would dispense avuncular advice or simply shmooze at 4 in the morning about the state of the Habs.
Smaidi could make small talk about sports with members of the Canadiens and Alouettes or big talk with politicos, like the late Pierre Trudeau, who made a habit of dropping by.
“I will miss my customers so much,” Smaidi said. “They have been like family to me, and in a way I feel like I’m abandoning my children. But they understand that there comes a point that I can’t keep standing like this for so many hours a day, every day of the week.”
New owner George Hatzis, who with his son spent the last six months under Smaidi’s wing, understands fully that Boustan is more than just a fast-food joint – rather a city landmark of sorts – and that Smaidi was almost more a mentor than a proprietor to customers.
“I know I’m carrying the weight of an institution on my shoulders and I will do my best to keep the faith and to keep the Boustan spirit and legacy alive,” said Hatzis, who has been in the restaurant business most of his working life.
“I am confident that we can maintain the tradition with the food and service. But I cannot duplicate or imitate (Smaidi). I will be myself. I like to chat. But from what I’ve seen, it’s the customers who are the real characters and stars, too.”
As characters go, though, there are few to touch Mr. Boustan. His story is the stuff of film. Smaidi was nine when he was orphaned in his native Beirut and had to fend for his four younger siblings. He worked while going to school. After high school, he attended military college and, upon graduating, became a cop in Beirut. But when civil war broke out in the mid-1970s, he came to Montreal, while his brothers and sisters settled in Dubai and Brazil.
After attending École Polytechnique de Montréal, he became an industrial engineer and worked for Philips, the mega-electronics company, where he rose through the ranks. But on a whim, he decided he would like to try his hand at operating a Lebanese restaurant.
He figures that he lucked out. “I came to this country with nothing in 1976 and, as an immigrant, I feel so proud to have integrated so well in my new home and to have made a small mark with this restaurant.”
Regrets? Yeah, but nothing to do with business.
“I know it sounds naive and idealistic – probably the result of serving students all these years – but I keep on dreaming of seeing the world at peace.” Pause. “I also dream of seeing the Canadiens win another Stanley Cup. And sometimes I don’t know which dream will be the harder to attain.”
Ah, Mr. Boustan, you will be much missed.