Article content

It’s 10:30 in the morning, and they’re already lined up at Wilensky’s to nosh on its famed Special — that highly addictive yet cholesterol-laden amalgam of fried salami and bologna served with a dab of mustard on an unassuming roll.

“It’s just a light lunch, sometimes before a bigger lunch … that’s why it’s called Wilensky’s Light Lunch,” its no-nonsense matriarch, Ruth Wilensky, would explain, when pressed, about the mid-morning rush.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Brownstein: Wilensky's pays tribute to late matriarch Back to video

“Actually, the ‘light’ was really meant as a reference to a fast lunch,” Sharon Wilensky says. “But who was going to argue with our mother? And, by the way, Ruth made sure it was always a fast visit for customers.”

In a city of unforgettable characters, Ruth Wilensky held her own. No one’s notion of warm and fuzzy, she wasn’t one to sit back and reminisce about a family business — now 87 years old — that was immortalized in Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz in the book and on screen. Or talk about all the stars who trooped into her Mile End eatery. She wasn’t big on shmoozing with customers, either. She was tough. She had to be.