In the beginning was The Salad Man, and the salad was in demand; Or, The early days of the vegetarian restaurant industry in Québec
Greetings, my reading friend, and welcome to this December 2024 issue of our festive blog / bulletin / thingee. Given the time of year, yours truly decided to break away from our anniversarial tradition in order to bring you this topic, a topic which fell by the wayside when I miscalculated the length of the previous article (4 parts instead of 3).
Are we ready?
And yes, my reading friend, I intend to be brief today.
Incidentally, the pair of photographs we have just seen showed…
- Joseph Lazarich, born Josef Lazarich, the Austrian Canadian proprietor of the vegetarian restaurant The Salad Man of Montréal, Québec, and
- two unidentified young women captured as they enjoyed the hearty fare of that establishment.
Yes, yes, you read right, my astonished reading friend. There was a vegetarian restaurant in Montréal in 1959, which means that the Golden Lotus of Kitsilano, British Columbia, opened in August 1967 by a young Canadian painter / entrepreneur by the name of Arran Blackburn Stephens, was not the first vegetarian restaurant located on Canadian soil.
And no, The Salad Man was not the first one either. Nay, it was not. You see, yours truly came across a Pure Food Vegetarian Cafe located in Vancouver, British Columbia, in July… 1904. Yes, 1904. I kid you not. It might have welcomed customers until at least 1907.
And yes, the list of ingredients found in the kitchen of the Pure Food Vegetarian Cafe included items like milk, eggs, cream and butter.
Was that establishment the very first vegetarian restaurant in Canada, you ask, my epicurean reading friend? To quote an old Québec expression, translated here of course, the good lord knows and the devil suspects, to which yours truly adds that I have no clue whatsoever.
Experience has taught me that stating with a great deal of assurance that a person or organisation was the first, the only or the last of its kind was a fool’s errand. Someone, somewhere has probably come across some person or organisation which truly was the first, the only or the last of its kind – and that person might not be right either, but I digress.
And no, yours truly is not a vegetarian. This being said (typed?), I go to vegetarian restaurants several times a month and devour vegetarian meals several times a month in my humble abode, but back to our story.
You did not know that a vegetarian restaurant had served customers on Québec soil as early as 1959, now did you? Well, did you know that this type of establishment existed, albeit elsewhere, well before 1904?
The first (?) vegetarian association of the contemporary age, the Vegetarian Society, seemingly burst upon the stage in Ramsgate, England, in November 1847. The New York Vegetarian Society in… New York City, New York, might, I repeat might, have been the second such organisation. It burst upon the scene in October 1852. And yes, my wolfish reading friend, feel free to check and search and bloooow my contention down.
By 1892, there were vegetarian societies in France, the German Empire, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and quite possibly elsewhere.
Incidentally, a Vegetarian Society of Canada came into existence in Montréal in March 1906. Its membership included both anglophone and francophone Montrealers.
The first vegetarian restaurant of the contemporary age might, I repeat, again, might, have opened its doors in Manchester, England, in the mid 1850s. There might have been one in New York City no later than 1874.
What yours truly knows is that a vegetarian restaurant definitely opened its doors in Manchester no later than in October 1875. Several others opened their doors, in various English locations I think, between that date and October 1878. London, England, was said to house a dozen vegetarian eateries by late 1885. By late 1889, that number had grown to about 30.
So far as Canada was concerned, besides the aforementioned Pure Food Vegetarian Cafe, there were an Apple Tree Restaurant in Winnipeg, Manitoba, no later than December 1907 and a vegetarian restaurant in Toronto, Ontario, operated by local members of the Canadian Women’s Suffrage Association, no later than October 1910. There might of course have been others.
And yes, you are quite correct, my reading friend, many members of the United Kingdom’s renowned Women’s Social and Political Union and Women’s Freedom League were indeed vegetarians. A number of vegetarian restaurant owners welcomed members of those suffragist organisations. In turn, members of those organisations opened several more or less formal vegetarian restaurants in the early years of the 20th century.
Having strayed far and wide, let us now return to the topic at hand, namely what could well be the first vegetarian restaurant in Québec, until proven otherwise.
The first hint concerning the existence of that establishment can be found in a brief news item published in October 1956, in a weekly newspaper published in Montréal, Le Petit Journal. Said news item stated that the Québec actor Camille Ducharme had recently come across what was thought to be the only vegetarian restaurant in Montréal, The Salad Man, and liked what was on the menu.
Would you believe that yours truly dedicated an October 2019 issue of our amaaazing blog / bulletin / thingee to a Québec television series aimed at a young audience in which Ducharme participated, one of the first televised science fiction series in Québec and Canada in fact, whose premiere took place in October 1959? Produced by the Société Radio-Canada, the French-language Canadian state radio and television broadcaster, Kosmos 2001 included 26 episodes of approximately 30 minutes. The last of those went on the air in April 1960.
Ours is small world, is it not, but back to The Salad Man.
The founding owner that eatery which served both raw and cooked meals was an English economist / budding entrepreneur and Second World War fighter pilot by the name of Leigh Wharton. Yes, yes, Wharton. Lazarich only came into play later. Be patient.
Incidentally, Wharton had flown Supermarine Spitfires during that dreadful conflict.
And yes, my museophile reading friend, the fantabulastic Canada Aviation and Space Museum, located in Ottawa, Ontario, has not one, but two Spitfires in its collection. One of those is on display on its floor while the other one is on display in the Canadian War Museum, also located in Ottawa, but back to our economist / budding entrepreneur and Second World War fighter pilot.
Wharton emigrated to Canada in 1953 and founded The Salad Man at some point after that.
His interest in vegetarianism and natural / unadulterated / unprocessed foods was an unexpected consequence of a severe heart condition his grandfather was faced with in the early 1940s. Confronted by doctors who told him that he was beyond salvation, Wharton’s grandfather turned to a well-known if controversial Russian English chiropractor / naturopathic physician. Stanley Lief, born Stanislav Lieven, I think, suggested that a major change in his eating habits might help.
Controversial, you ask, my reading friend? Yes, controversial. You see, the medical profession of his day saw Lief as a well-meaning quack.
But help the suggested change did. Wharton’s grandfather was still alive in July 1957, when he, yes, the grandson, was interviewed by Sheila Moodie, a correspondent of a Canadian news agency mentioned in a June 2022 issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee, British United Press Limited of Montréal, which happened to be the subsidiary of an American news agency, United Press Associations Incorporated.
Wharton was so impressed, and grateful, by what Lief was doing for his grandfather that he allegedly spent 7 or so years, possibly during and / or after the end of the Second World War, studying nutrition at the latter’s London clinic and / or, perhaps, at London’s British College of Naturopathy, founded in 1949. The young man presumably obtained his degree in economics around that time, at the University of London, in… London.
Better yet, Wharton allegedly spent 3 or so years in the clinic founded in 1897, in Zürich / Züri / Zurich, Switzerland, by a well-known if controversial Swiss physician and pioneer nutritionist.
Controversial, you ask, my reading friend? Yes, controversial. You see, the medical profession of his day saw Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner as a well-meaning quack.
As enthusiastic as he was about good nutrition, vegetarianism and natural / unadulterated / unprocessed foods, Wharton was nonetheless of the opinion that even a city as large as Montréal (1 100 000 or so people in 1956) could not support a totally vegetarian restaurant. As a result, he resigned himself to serving meat (fish only?) as well.
Vegetarian items on the menu of The Salad Man included “a pick-me-up cocktail of cabbage and pineapple, honey and egg, or maybe iodine and seaweed.” And no, my inquisitive reading friend, I have no idea of what that item looked or tasted like.
And yes, yours truly does realise that Wharton’s establishment was not the first 100 % vegetarian restaurant in Québec. That, however, does not necessarily mean that a later version of it did not become that first exemplar of the type. Bear with me.
For some reason or other, someone, presumably Wharton, sold The Salad Man no later than November 1958. The small advertisements published in a Montréal daily newspaper, Le Devoir, mentioned that this establishment still served vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals to its clientele.
Mind you, The Salad Man also sold at least some food items, the melba toasts produced by a well-known French firm, the Établissements H. Pelletier, for example.
It also sold health and beauty products developed by a well-known if controversial German American nutritionist / self-help author.
Controversial, you ask, again, my reading friend? Yes, controversial. You see, the medical profession of his day saw Benjamin Gayelord Hauser, born Helmut Eugen Benjamin Gellert Hauser, as a well-meaning quack, but back to Wharton, if only for a moment.
That gentleman moved to the United States at some point in the late 1950s and became a theatre actor. Later on, he added documentary film direction to his list of accomplishments.
Edge of Survival, a 1981 (?) documentary film he co-directed with an award-winning American documentary filmmaker / author, Barbara A. Gordon, born Loeb, won the film award of the first World Hunger Media Awards, presented in November 1982.
The World Hunger Media Awards had just been created by the American songwriter / singer / actor Kenneth Ray “Kenny” Rogers and his spouse, Marianne Rogers, born Gordon, to honour journalists who brought the issue of world hunger to the attention of the general public.
And no, the spouse of Barbara A. Gordon was not related to Marianne Gordon.
A brief digression if I may. Would you believe that the spouse of crooked police commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, a powerful and dangerous foe of police detective James “Jim” Gordon, was named Barbara? Yes, that Gordon, the future ally of the seriously messed up vigilante Batman. And yes again, Gordon’s (adopted?) daughter was also named… Barbara. That Barbara Gordon also fought crime, as Batgirl. Coincidences can be positively fascinating and utterly meaningless, are they not, but back to The Salad Man.
If one was to believe the article by Louis Beaudoin published in November 1959 which served as the anchor of this article, words translated here, “The menu of that restaurant is exclusively composed of beverages and dishes based on fresh fruits, dried fruits, raw vegetables or vegetables prepared using a special cooking method.”
By November 1959 at the latest, The Salad Man was a 100% vegetarian restaurant, the first one in Québec, until proven otherwise. To quote, out of context, the evil Asgardian Loki Laufeysson in the 2013 American superhero movie Thor: The Dark World, tadaa…

One of the satisfied female patrons of the vegetarian restaurant The Salad Man of Montréal, Québec. Louis Beaudoin, “Au restaurant ‘Salad Man’ – Honnie soit la viande!” Photo-Journal, 14 to 21 November 1959, 8.
Incidentally, a majority of the restaurant’s patrons were women. To quote the new owner, the aforementioned Lazarich, words translated here, again, “It must be because women watch their waistline.”
With all due respect to Lazarich, the truth is that the average woman tends to be more concerned about her health than the average man. The average woman is also far less likely to be a sociopath or psychopath. Given that, why not let women run the world?
To quote the dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield, in the 2014 epic high fantasy adventure film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, “If more people valued home, above gold, this world would be a merrier place,” but I digress.
If one was to believe an article published in a June 1960 issue of Le Petit Journal, Lazarich had made some significant changes to his menu. And yes, my alert reading friend, he now served non vegetarian meals to people who did not adhere to vegetarianism.
Mind you, individuals could also buy prepared meals in order to eat them at home, and…
You have a question, do you not, my reading friend? Let me guess, you wish to know more about Lazarich? Wunderbar!
To start with, that gentleman was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in a region which is now part of Croatia, I think.
Lazarich claimed that, during his youth, he had worked as the head chef in the Brioni Hotel, a posh establishment located in Wien / Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was owned by the elderly emperor of that vacillating multinational empire, Franz Joseph I, born Franz Joseph Karl of house Habsburg-Lothringen. He also claimed that he had served said emperor during 5 or so years.
And yes, Franz Joseph I was mentioned in a January 2024 issue of our blog /bulletin / thingee.
The catch with that story was that the name Brioni was seemingly linked to an exclusive beach resort frequented by, among other luminaries, the Austro-Hungarian imperial family and located in the Brioni islands, a small Austro-Hungarian archipelago located in the Adriatic Sea, far from Vienna.
Another catch with Lazarich’s statement was that he did not look old enough to have served meals to Franz Joseph I for 5 years, given that the latter had died in November 1916.
In addition, yours truly has yet to come across information concerning a Europa Hotel in Cannes, France, an establishment in which Lazarich claimed he had worked, presumably after the First or Second World War.
Mind you, another hotel in which he claimed to have worked, namely the Riviera Hotel in Trieste, did exist around that time.
And yes, my reading friend who loves history, the city of Trieste belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918 and to Italy until 1947. Declared a free territory at that time, Trieste again became an Italian city in October 1954.
There is also no way to prove, or disprove, that Lazarich had worked aboard the famous Italian ocean liner SS Rex, operated by Italia Flotte Riunite Società anonima between September 1932 and June 1940.
In any event, both The Salad Man and Lazarich left no trace of their existence or their passing in the Canadian press after the aforementioned June 1960 article published in Le Petit Journal.
I can only apologise for such an inconclusive conclusion to our story.
Mind you, Wharton left this Earth in November 2017, at the age of 93.
And no, my overly enthusiastic reading friend, the Joseph Lazarich who acquired an eating establishment, the Town House Restaurant, Dallas, in Pittston, Pennsylvania, with his spouse, in June 1964, was not our Lazarich. Unless, of course, the life story that our Lazarich had given to Montréal journalists was a total fabrication.
As far as yours truly can tell, the 2nd vegetarian restaurant to open in Montréal was O-Pti-Zoizo, a phonetic rendition of a Québec expression, être aux petits oiseaux, which means to be thrilled, over the moon, on cloud nine, in seventh heaven, etc. That opening took place no later than November 1968, which was not exactly a good time to obtain good quality vegetables and fruits. The owner of that “café de fruits et légumes,” in English fruits and vegetables cafe, was the Québec painter / sculptor Robert Lorrain, a graduate of the École des beaux-arts de Montréal.
The menu of that small yet popular establishment initially included cereal porridges, salads, etc. By September 1971, a person could feast on a hearty bowl of soup followed by an ever changing if small variety of equally hearty main courses to be found in large cauldrons as well as a large salad bowl. Patrons, which tended to be young and slightly hippy-ish, were expected to clean their own dishes before leaving.
A good meal with a desert and herbal tea cost $1.20, a sum which corresponded to approximately $ 9.20 in 2024 currency – a bargain if I may say (type?) so.
Oh yes, and there was a health food store on the upper floor.
O-Pti-Zoizo seemingly closed its doors no later than May 1975. Another vegetarian restaurant, Semence, opened on the same spot that very month. Yours truly has yet to discover when the latter shut down for good.
What I do know, however, is that the culinary critic of a renowned Montréal daily newspaper, The Gazette, the first culinary critic in Québec, if not Canada by the looks of it, was not all that impressed by Semence when she paid a visit to that establishment in December 1975, I think.
Helen Rochester, born McGrath, thought that the soup and dishes were dull or unappetising, or that they lacked seasoning. The herbal tea did not taste as divine as it smelled, and the deserts were both dry and bland. Seating on the floor around low tables, without her winter boots, in a very subdued and serious atmosphere, might not have appealed to Rochester too much either.
The cherry on top of that fruitcake, however, might have the communal bathroom, clearly visible to most diners. You see, the legs of its occupants were also visible to most diners, beneath a Western saloon-type swinging door.
And that is it for today. Bon appétit everyone!
This writer wishes to thank the people who provided information. Any mistake contained in this article is my fault, not theirs.