Felt Bagels

Felt Bagels – by Liam Sweeny.

I’m a big guy. I say big because the world won’t let you say fat, not even in a reference to yourself, but that too. One of the things I like about eating is going to the shop, actually buying the thing. I’m not big on dollar-store junk food. I prefer to walk the outer ring of the grocery store, the produce, the meat department, dairy, and yes, the bakery.

What if I could buy food without the intention of ever eating it? Well, in New York, you can. In fact, you can feast, not on culinary delights, but on artistic delights.

Her name is Lucy Sparrow, she’s from the UK, and if you hurry (by the end of October) you can catch her pop-up art installation, “Feltz Bagels.”

Using 33,000 pieces of felt, Lucy has created a replica of a Lower East Side Jewish bagel shop. I’m going to share a picture, but it’s amazing. It’s a bagel shop down to the last detail – the detail where you can buy, but not eat the product. Well, you can. You can try.

Lucy wanted to recreate a bagel shop because she’s fascinated at how the bagel, a lowly breakfast food, became ubiquitous in New York Society. She has created felt bagels, obviously, but she can make them to order as well, offering lox and a shmear of cream cheese, all felt. They’re a little pricier than your everyday bagel, reaching $250 for a custom order, and $10 for some of the other things in the shop.

It ends in October, so get your asses down to an abandoned storefront in the East Village (it’s so cool, they don’t tell you where it is), and never fear.. if you’re not into bagels, the installation has felt versions of Jewish comfort food, and the iconic staple of the Jewish bagel shop, the black-and-white cookie.

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