I knew the Banh Mi had arrived when I saw it on a non-Vietnamese, Rockland, Maine restaurant menu.
Back in 2003, when I first found out about Banh Mi, I took a trip out to the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn to find a hole in the wall called Ba Xuyen (now lauded as the mother of all NYC Banh Mi). It was known for its grilled pork & pate sandwich, with spicy fixins’ of slaw and mayo, on a warm baguette (a nod to the French Indochine era). I couldn’t believe this place was churning out these amazingly satisfying Vietnamese sandwiches for only $2.50. Blissful, satiating, and a total revelation.
What was once a little known fusion of Vietnamese & French ingredients, began it’s humble stateside ascent in the tiny Asian markets of NYC in the late ’90s. Since then, the Banh Mi craze took off and has become one of NYC’s most popular sandwiches. Like so many ‘feeding frenzy’ fads in NYC, a nationwide roll out soon to followed.