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.
Social media has played a HUGE role in popularizing the “Vietnamese Submarine,” as some call it. In LA, the Nomnom Truck alerts a hungry faithful of their location via Twitter (they currently have 7031 followers!). Battle of the Banh Mi focuses on finding your city’s best banh mi location, educating people how to make them, prepare ingredients, and where to find the best banh mi in your city. Is this too much interest? Will the sandwich ‘jump the shark?’ I think they’ll fall out of fashion at some point, replaced I’m sure by another dish, but as the growth and popularity of social media food sites continue, I think that you’ll see Banh Mi on more and more menus around the world. If it can happen in Rockland, Maine, well you know. I just hope that we never get to the point of the McBanh Mi.
Tags: bahn mi, brooklyn, foodies, grange hall media, Social Media, vietnamese food, vietnamese sandwich