Walking into Masses Bagels, you immediately understand its status as an instant Fitzroy community favourite. Co-owners Carmen Newton and Jack Muir-Rigby (partners in life and business) first ran Masses from the Carlton Farmers’ Market and, after gaining a cult following, opened a permanent shopfront on Smith St, Fitzroy. The space – warm and inviting – leaves its kitchen open, separated from customers only by a clear PVC curtain. Walk in, watch them leaven, shape, and bake their next batch of bagels – or drop by the take-away window for a quick fix and a cup of freshly brewed Market Lane coffee with a bagel sandwich or tartine.
Before she and Jack founded Masses, we were lucky enough to have Carmen as the manager of our Faraday St shop – in fact, she joined us with the purpose of learning more about coffee, in preparation for opening her own business. From the farmers’ market to Smith St, Masses have cultivated a community of loyal customers, who first fell in love with what they do while waking early on weekends, rain or shine, just to queue at the stall and secure one (or a few) for the road. Now, those same customers have followed Masses to the shop counter, continuing a morning ritual built from the ground up.
We were delighted to catch up and chat with Carmen and Jack, to see their lively back-and-forth firsthand, and to discuss their continued ties to community vendors, the year that’s been, and what’s coming next.
