Case Study // 2026
A Full-Scale Barney Greengrass Deli, Built for One Night
The Brief & Challenge.
For a private event in New York, the brief was a food moment with a story: bring Barney Greengrass, the Upper West Side “Sturgeon King” that has been serving smoked fish and bagels since 1908, into the room as a working deli where guests could walk up and grab a bite.
It had to be full scale and it had to function. A facade alone would not do; guests needed a real counter to order at, a display case for pastries, shelves of product behind the staff, and the signage to tell them exactly where they were. The build also had to go into an event space with exposed ceilings and services, read as a storefront under event lighting, and come out again when the night was over.
The Pop Solution.
We built the deli as a complete scenic storefront, fabricated in our shop and installed as a single set in the venue.
The storefront. A full-width facade with a backlit “Barney Greengrass, The Sturgeon King” sign in the deli’s own lettering, a printed green awning carrying the name and the 541 street number, and pendant lamps hung along the front so the whole piece glows like the Amsterdam Avenue original.
The working counter. A long serving counter with a paneled, trimmed front and a stone-look top, built to be staffed, with a curved-glass bakery display case at one end loaded with pastries and a Grab & Go station at the other. Scenic carpentry and scenic painting gave it the finish of a permanent fit-out.
The back wall. Green-painted back wall with open shelving dressed with bagels, jars, bottles and branded bags, an “Order Here” menu board listing bagels, smoked salmon, whitefish salad, sturgeon, nova lox and knishes, and Bakery and Grab & Go signs produced with large format printing.
The result is a piece of experiential fabrication that guests used rather than just looked at. Everything was prefabricated, installed and struck by our team as part of the same event fabrication process we run for hospitality builds across the city.
Core Fabrications
THE OUTCOME.
Guests lined up at a deli that did not exist the day before. The storefront gave the event a landmark, the counter kept food moving all night, and every plate came with a New York story attached. It was struck and gone before the venue’s next booking.
For hosts and brands, this is the difference between catering and an experience: the same food, served from a place guests want to be photographed in.