NYC staple Zabar’s and candle company Literie bottled the scent of Friday night challah

There’s a specific magic that takes over your apartment on a Friday afternoon when there’s challah in the oven. The yeast, the egg wash, that faintly sweet golden warmth curling out from under the kitchen door: it’s the smell of the whole week exhaling.

Of course, not everyone has time to braid their own every week (no judgment: the most stylish challah delivery in NYC can help with that), but here’s the good news: there’s now a decidedly simpler way to conjure that Friday scent, courtesy of Literie, the cult New York candle brand founded by Erica Werber and beloved for bottling hyper-specific city moments like bodega coffee, the hot roasted nut cart and a slice from a guy named Joe into scents you can actually live in. Their latest collaboration is with the most New York institution of them all: Zabar’s, the Upper West Side appetizing temple that’s been feeding the neighborhood since 1934.

The result is the “Fresh Challah on Friday” candle that smells like the precursor to Shabbat and might arguably be. better than the real thing since it does not involve any flour on your sweater or post-baking cleanup.

“With notes of honey and sesame, Fresh Challah on Friday smells warm, soft, nostalgic and comforting—like tearing off the first piece before dinner officially starts,” reads a description of the product.

A few things to keep in mind: like the rest of the Literie lineup, the candle is a vegan soy-and-coconut wax blend with around 50 hours of burn time, hand-poured in small batches. The collab dropped this past week and is available exclusively in store at Zabar’s and online for just under $20.

Is the candle a stand-in for challah? Absolutely not—but since you’re heading to Zabar’s anyway, you might as well pick up a fresh loaf while you’re there.