Meir Azerad and Ynon Cohen built Nöam into a Montreal kosher favorite before a suspected arson destroyed it in July 2026, with rebuilding now underway.
Meir Azerad and Ynon Cohen, brothers-in-law, built Nöam into one of Montreal's most popular kosher restaurants before a suspected arson attack destroyed the building on July 31, 2026. The pair had just finished a year-long second-floor renovation to keep up with nightly waitlists when the fire hit. A GoFundMe campaign had raised nearly $42,000 toward a $250,000 goal within its first days, and the owners say they plan to rebuild on the same site.
Who Are Meir Azerad and Ynon Cohen?
Meir Azerad and Ynon Cohen are brothers-in-law who opened Nöam in a space that had previously served as a car wash's waiting room, transforming it into a polished, sit-down kosher restaurant. Press accounts differ on the exact founding date, with some reporting placing the opening in 2023 and others in August 2024, but all accounts agree the restaurant grew quickly from that modest starting point.
The restaurant's name honors Cohen's brother Noam, who died years before the restaurant opened and had dreamed of opening a restaurant of his own. That personal history shaped the restaurant's identity well beyond its food, a naming pattern similar to how Raz Shabtai named Mutra after his grandmother, according to building landlord Howard Szalavetz.
How Did Nöam Build a Following in Montreal's Kosher Market?
Nöam built its menu around wood-fired pizzas cooked at 1,000 degrees in roughly two minutes per pie, later expanding into Mediterranean and Italian dishes. The restaurant developed a waitlist most weeknights, an unusual level of demand for Montreal's kosher dining scene.
Szalavetz, who owns the building Nöam operates from, described the restaurant's rise against a backdrop of limited competition. "Montreal doesn't have a huge selection of kosher restaurants," Szalavetz told JNS, adding that prior operators in the space had relied on a captive customer base rather than competing on quality. Azerad and Cohen took a different approach, investing heavily in service and food quality rather than assuming customer loyalty.
What Happened the Night of the Fire?
Surveillance video showed a man setting fire to the restaurant, and Montreal police opened a suspected arson investigation. The fire broke out on Shabbat, a detail that spread quickly on social media after a viral post from Montreal resident Francine Goldberg noted the day's religious significance around kindling flames.
Azerad and Cohen have deliberately avoided declaring the fire an antisemitic attack ahead of a confirmed police motive. "We understand why people were so quick to frame this as an open and shut case of antisemitism, but we at Nöam are actively fighting the urge to declare certainty before all the facts are known," restaurant manager Tzvi Harrison told National Post. The owners have said Nöam, while proudly Jewish-owned and kosher, was built as a space welcoming to the entire Montreal community, a positioning echoed by other kosher restaurateurs profiled in The Kosher Economy series who market beyond strictly observant customers.
What Comes Next for Nöam?
Szalavetz has said the plan is to rebuild on the same site and reopen "bigger, better, newer" than before, estimating the process could take six months to a year. In the meantime, he said he is working to find the restaurant a temporary home so it can continue operating.
The GoFundMe campaign explicitly acknowledges that insurance will not cover the full cost of rebuilding. "While insurance may help with some of the losses, it cannot replace years of hard work, nor can it fully cover the immense cost of rebuilding a business from the ground up," the campaign states, citing recent infrastructure work, including a full pipe system replacement completed less than 24 hours before the fire.
Sources
- The Forward, "Suspected arson gutted Montreal's trendiest kosher restaurant," August 2, 2026
- National Post via Yahoo News Canada, "Don't assume suspected arson was antisemitism, urge owners of destroyed Montreal kosher restaurant"
- JNS, "'Thank God, my father isn't alive to see this,' says owner of Montreal building in which kosher restaurant torched"
- The Christian Century, "Suspected arson guts Montreal's trendiest kosher restaurant"
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