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Market Street just keeps getting better.
Yesterday I was walking by, noticing how all the chestnut trees are out in their full green finery, when I saw all these new wooden plank tables just beyond Mak Cleaners, and before the Starbucks at Market and Tenth. Brand new pinewood.
It takes a moment, but then I realize it’s that new sandwich shop, The District (1021 Market Street, 619-269-6172) with the pretty darned good banh-mi, the Vietnamese-French style sandwich that’s showing up more and more around the county.
I found them just after they opened, about this time last month. They have all sorts of sandwiches and soups, but Trong, the owner, is Vietnamese, so I wanted his take on the $6.95 banh mi, and its story.
“The French introduced the banh mi when they occupied Vietnam a century ago, maybe more,” Trong told me. “It was always basically paté in a baguette. But then the people of Saigon started playing round with it, giving it a Vietnamese flavor. They added lemongrass, mint leaves, and things like pickled cucumbers and carrots. That’s what gives it a Vietnamese flavor.”
And that’s what I have remembered about it. The lemongrass flavor with the beef.
And now, we’ll be able to munch it outside.
“The day we got the go-ahead from the City to put seating outside, I went and ordered these plank tables,” says Trong. “We wanted something different than the usual metal, plastic tables you see outside. This is more country. I think it encourages conversation.”
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/19/28311/
And how about the other thing that encourages conversation? The wine and beer license he said he was applying for.
“That’s in the works, but it’s going to take a little bit longer.”
Market Street just keeps getting better.
Yesterday I was walking by, noticing how all the chestnut trees are out in their full green finery, when I saw all these new wooden plank tables just beyond Mak Cleaners, and before the Starbucks at Market and Tenth. Brand new pinewood.
It takes a moment, but then I realize it’s that new sandwich shop, The District (1021 Market Street, 619-269-6172) with the pretty darned good banh-mi, the Vietnamese-French style sandwich that’s showing up more and more around the county.
I found them just after they opened, about this time last month. They have all sorts of sandwiches and soups, but Trong, the owner, is Vietnamese, so I wanted his take on the $6.95 banh mi, and its story.
“The French introduced the banh mi when they occupied Vietnam a century ago, maybe more,” Trong told me. “It was always basically paté in a baguette. But then the people of Saigon started playing round with it, giving it a Vietnamese flavor. They added lemongrass, mint leaves, and things like pickled cucumbers and carrots. That’s what gives it a Vietnamese flavor.”
And that’s what I have remembered about it. The lemongrass flavor with the beef.
And now, we’ll be able to munch it outside.
“The day we got the go-ahead from the City to put seating outside, I went and ordered these plank tables,” says Trong. “We wanted something different than the usual metal, plastic tables you see outside. This is more country. I think it encourages conversation.”
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/19/28311/
And how about the other thing that encourages conversation? The wine and beer license he said he was applying for.
“That’s in the works, but it’s going to take a little bit longer.”