Farmer In The Deli Gets Some Love From NYTimes Magazine

Fort Greene’s favorite sandwich shop, Farmer In The Deli, got the New York Times Magazine treatment this past weekend from editor and local resident Sasha Frere Jones, so get ready to see some extra new faces around, hopefully giving the place a summertime business boost.

Jones’ profile on Farmer In The Deli, which is located at 357 Myrtle Avenue, starts kind of depressingly by noting the no-frills atmosphere is part of the charm, or lack thereof: “lit like an emergency room; crammed with packaged, processed foods; ringed by perimeter walls stocked with saccharine drinks. . .There are no jars of fresh pickles on display, and hardly anyone ever buys a half pound of any salad, potato or otherwise. Farmer in the Deli is a slightly hot-rodded bodega, a holdover oasis from the food desert that Fort Greene used to be. But to an outsider, the benefit of Farmer is not immediately clear.”

But then he goes on to cheer the affordability, efficiency, tastiness, and, to him, rudeness of the customer base.

People rarely make an economic case for the “rude” New York, perhaps because there isn’t one, but the rudeness is one of the joys of living here. We don’t think being mouthy is a terminal disease. We feel it, we say it, we move on. Farmer in the Deli is a space where people feel comfortable being as loud as they want, knowing nothing will come of it — except, perhaps, a chopped-salad sandwich.

I’m not sure rudeness is one of Farmer In The Deli’s qualities, but as long as he liked it, I guess? As we’ve noted in the past, the efficiency of the sandwich makers and their willingness to build whatever crazy sandwich concoction you dream up is a relief in an increasingly pretentious New York dining scene, but is that kind of straightforward service “rude New York”? What’s your take?