Knitalian: Artist uses yarn to create Italian deli

A textile artist has turned a Soho gallery into an Italian restaurant and delicatessen – where everything on the menu is made of yarn.

Kate Jenkins’s exhibition, Kate’s Knitalian, has filled Air Contemporary in Ham Yard with knitted, embroidered and crocheted food.

Spaghetti, breadsticks, fish, fruit and veg are all on the shelves, and artwork is available to buy.

Jenkins’s idea grew out of a year of eating.

She said: “Anything that I’ve eaten over the last year or so for my research has been Italian, so it just all has come together”.

Tables are set up as if diners are about to arrive, while the walls are lined with slices of pizza, bottles of wine, ice cream and cicchetti, the small snacks served in Venetian bars.

There is also a pizza station where visitors can pick their own woolly toppings, from a margherita to a seafood marinara.

Jenkins said her favourite part of the show was the deli counter, hung with salami, Parma ham, lemons, chillies and strings of onions and garlic.

“All kind of knitted to scale and to perfection,” she said. “It’s been a joy to create.”

The exhibition opened on 30 October and runs until 5 December. Entry is free and there is no need to book.

“You can just come, sit down or have a look around and just enjoy the wonders and delights of Italian cuisine,” she said.

It is open from 10:00 to 18:00 GMT, Tuesday to Friday, and from 10:00 to 17:00 on Saturdays.

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