The New Panino & A Brownie Bite

Ever since CandyPenny showed me the cross-section of Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich‘s vegetarian Banh Mi, I knew I had to check it out. My house special Saigon sub was the perfect stop after a day of errands. Warm, French baguette stuffed with delicious and contrasting textures, temperatures and colors: pickled carrots, cilantro, crunchy cucumber, warm shreds of mushroom and tofu. I sat in front of the tiny shop and chomped down the huge sub ravenously. I’ll definitely be returning to Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich for another taste. They have a vegan chicken Banh Mi I’d like to give a whirl.

As I shoved in the remaining nub of baguette into my mouth I thought, why the heck French bread?! Having a grossly inept database of global history, as many Americans do, this popular Vietnamese sandwich made little sense to me. As it turns out the sandwich, once known as the “salad sandwich”, comes from the days French colonials occupied Indochina. They mixed their baguettes and mayonnaise with what was sprouting up in Vietnam to create this very popular dish. Flash forward to today in New York City. New York declares the sandwich the new panino… what that means, I can’t guess. A Subway version?

Since I was already on Broome street my feet naturally gravitated towards Babycakes. But being a little light in the wallet and heavy in the belly from the foot-long Bahn Mi, I opted for a simple but decadently chocolaty brownie bite. The perfect balancer of the taste buds.