The cheery, busy scene at Twin Suns Deli’s opening day last Thursday suggests that the new eatery and market has a prosperous year to look forward to. Forest green and mustard yellow balloon floated at the ceiling as this reporter sat at a window seat savoring a Jersey Joe ($12), and a a steady stream of patrons made it clear that Twin Suns already has a customer base telling their friends who are telling their friends to come in. One satisfied patron yelled “Congratulations! It was great! It was awesome!” as he left. Here’s how this place is living up to the hype around it.
For starters, the merchandise is meticulously curated. There’s a table which holds woodsy incense components and napkins which are handmade by chef Stacy Hall’s mother and a small refrigerator that includes kimchi, miso paste, and ramen. A wide variety of dry goods can be found on the shelves (which were built by co-owner Montana Masback), from spaghetti to spaetzle to Apple Sauce. Front of house dude and merchandiser Richard Porpiglia will soon operate his co-owned Local Brand BK “sawce”[sic] operation out of the space’s bottling section. Locals who originally hail from the South or the Midwest will be happy to know that Twin Suns carries Duke’s Mayonnaise (from Richmond, Virginia) and Koeze peanut butter (from Grand Rapids, Michigan).
Up front, candies ranging from Salty Road Sea Salt Caramel ($.50) to good ole Smarties are available in glass jars. Some of the products on sale a Twin Suns come from tiny operations such as Rusty’s Chips, whose website describes their operation in a single sentence (“We just slice and cook”). “We send him a check and just kind of hope that he send us the chips,” admits co-owner Danielle Masback, laughing.
In the glass deli case up front, there are wheels of fine cheeses, meats, pickles, pickled eggs, coleslaw, and potato salad: Twin Suns reps Ridgewood Pork Store with their Nduja ($9.99/lb) and Twice Smoked Bacon, and gorgonzola, taleggio ($14.50/lb), parmigiana-reggiano are their current cheese offerings.
Danielle also likes to think of the spot as a kind of food gift shop – and rarely is a word mashup as appropriate as this. “I love getting food gifts. This is a place that you can grab things to make dinner, but is also almost like a gift shop,” she says, (a statement that rings true to a reporter whose friends presented her with a twelve pack of Oatmeal Cream Pies on her 14th birthday). Remember, readers: gifting food is an expressway way to anyone’s heart, and Palentine’s Day is coming up!
Twin Suns Deli promises on the blackboard up front that in their deli “Every ingredient is selected with love from sustainable farms when possible.” Hall, a Louisiana native, hails from a cooking/farming/butchering background that includes having worked with renowned southern Louisiana chef Jon Besh. She’s curated the menu with nods to the places she’s lived and her areas of expertise. You’ll notice influences from the South and the East coast in Stacy’s mouthwatering seasonal menu.
Bushwick Daily recommends the Parm sammie and the Jersey Joe, but wishes you well on making your selection from the menu. Are you a “spicy griddled sweet potato, Pigeon pea hummus, and crispy collards on Ciabatta” (aka the “Jerk” sandwich) kind of person? Would you describe yourself as a “roast turkey, baguette dressin’, cranberry preserves, Duke’s mayo on a Martin’s Hero” (The Pilgrim) individual? Perhaps you’re more inclined to select The Big Muffaletta, which comes on a huge Italian round that Hall and her colleague developed specifically for this sandwich. Hall also tells Bushwick Daily that Leidenheimer, the French bread for Twin Suns’ Po Boy, is flown up from New Orleans.
“We want Twin Suns to be approachable and offer a variety of products to appeal to the diverse neighborhood, but of course we want to stay true to our roots,” says Hall. Danielle, who also hails from the south by way of Florida, told me that her great grandfather used to own and run a butcher shop: In the future, Twin Suns would like to offer whole animal butchering.
Seth Piraccio, the owner of the recently opened Starliner Bar, also stopped by Twin Suns on opening day. Piraccio is close friends with the Masbacks: now that Twin Suns is operational, Starliner offers table service delivery for all of the Twin Suns sandwiches (talk about a beautiful friendship).
Those looking to purchase the switchel described in Bushwick Daily’s preview of Twin Suns can find it to the left of the register, side by side with house made lemonade. Grab a cup of either for $3, or experience the Graveyard, which is comprised of switchel, lemonade and iced tea. The Graveyard is the Twin Suns spin on The Suicide (the kid’s “cocktail” combined by mixing every soft drink at a self serve fountain). It tastes like an Arnold Palmer with more of a zip and goes for $6.
It’s worth noting that Twin Suns has cheap going rates for caffeine, too. A cup of Oslo coffee is for $1.50, and a latte is a mere $3. Additionally, their breakfast burrito ($7) and their egg and cheese sandwich ($6) come with a free cup of coffee from 7am-9am on weekdays.
Twin Suns introduced delivery service on Monday; delivery hours start at 11am and wrap up at 8pm: Check their range and see if you’re included, but do make sure to stop by at lest once, to get the full experience.
Twins Suns Deli is located at 244 Himrod Street between Knickerbocker and Irving Avenues, off the Knickerbocker Avenue stop on the M train and the DeKalb Stop on the L. Hours of operation are from 7am-8pm; call them at 718-484-9291, visit them online at twinsunsdeli.com, or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.