The Bagel Hole wasn’t even their first joint partnership, having also founded Floating World together – a creative studio with a focus on objects and interiors. 

Everything that they designed was specifically crafted for their own eventual use. The space was the starting point, starting off as an “awkward” underground storage room, well, awkward for some.

Suzi and Matt knew that the user experience of the space was just as important as that of their culinary creations and that one greatly influences the other. 

From the specific shade of pink that they chose for the micro cement to the custom-made metal stools which were based on bentwood chairs from Suzi’s grandmother’s home, the space is just as delicious as the bagels, beautifully curated by the architects. 

This time, Suzi and Matt were keen to bring in other local artists and makers to make the bagel hole whole.

They’ve got locally roasted coffee served in Katrina Galea’s ceramics, brilliant branding done by Ed Dingli, and they’ve even got some merch with other local designers in the works!

The bagels themselves came with their own journey of discovery, with months of trial and error in partnership with the Mediterranean Culinary Academy. Once barley malt syrup was discovered locally, the path to the perfect bagel began.

Being hand-rolled and boiled, these bagels have never seen a factory conveyor belt and boy can you taste it. Even the menu was subject to scrutiny, with the desire to produce everything in-house with locally sourced ingredients whilst remaining true to the NY-style bagel.

Opening the first bagel shop in Malta does indeed come with a sense of honour and responsibility.

Besides introducing the local market to the joy that is the bagel, they’re constantly being put to the test by a steady stream of Americans, local and visiting, that come to judge for themselves.

The Bagel Hole can be located in Triq il-Melita in Valletta, and are open from Tuesday to Saturday.

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