Just came from a Sarah Silverman event in Soho and then went straight to St. Mark’s for my favorite sandwich of all time: Vietnamese Banh Mi.

I agree that Vietnamese cuisine is the IT cuisine today. Thai is so 2000s. The Banh Mi never fails to make me happy. Actually, it made me smile more than Ms. Silverman. It is a sandwich only masters can make. The pickled veggies, the special paté, the out of this world house mayo, and the assorted cuts of meat, all these are tucked in the center of a freshly baked baguette. Whew!

If the US government’s reason for meddling in Vietnam in the 60s was to get the secret formula for an authentic Banh Mi, the war would have made sense and I would have supported it. Well, in the 60s I was but a potential human floating in a sea of possibilities, so I really couldn’t support it but you know.. whatever.

The sandwich is a unique blend of Asian and French flavors that never fails to satisfy.

I am a locavore and as I said, I prefer to cook at home. But sometimes I allow myself the occasional dine-out so I could experience what’s great out there.

However, I only have some rules when I eat out: I only eat traditional cuisines from different cultures and I make sure the place adheres to sustainable practices, uses fresh ingredients, true to the culture it represents, and definitely no fast food.

The Banh Mi places is one of these restaurants. If you are in the area, check it out. It’s called Bao-guette.

By the way, I am expecting another delivery from my meat and dairy coop. Last week, I was informed that the farmer has some lamb and game meats available (all pasture raised of course) so I ordered some along with my weekly ration of raw milk, eggs, and cheese.

I am planning to make some roasts and I’ll let you know if they are any good.

Oh before I forget, I must admit though that Ms. Silverman was indeed funny, cool, and kinda hot.

Introducing, Banh Mi

I am one of the many people who treat food like a side dish in my daily routine. Sure I appreciate the delightful tastes of well prepared food, but more often, food for me is a means to an end: either to close an important business deal over dinner at a fine restaurant, to lose unwanted pounds, or to get a good screw after a well selected dessert at a French pastry joint. Either way, food is a need as well as a tool. I need it to survive, and I need to make the process of survival a blast.

I realize now how much I suck and I am paying for it.

Last year, my reckless choices of food gave me my first health scare: kidney stones. Yes, I thought of the many unhealthy selections of food items throughout the years as I lay inside the awkward contraption that is the ultrasound machine for the very first time in my not-so-old-life.

I twisted and turned in that ER every time the left side of my abdomen exploded in pain, like a molten samurai was stabbing it. Could this be due to the many canned soups I downed? What about the x amount of soda that I have gulped since I was in grade school khaki shorts (believe me I drank so much soft drinks, I could turn the Sahara into a bubbly carbonated ocean)?  And what about the dollar meals?

My doctor told me that kidney stones are direct results of two factors: diet and heredity. Diet in a sense that I ate too much junk and heredity in a sense that my ancestors were predisposed to eat a lot of junk and batter up their kidneys and eventually mine. In both counts, I was guilty.

So my doctor, a devout Christian, asked me a very piercing question: “Do you have a personal relationship with your dinner?”

I had no response.

For the longest time, perhaps beginning with my first munch of Gerber, I was thoughtless about food. It was nothing but a mechanical act of nourishing my body and getting things done with or because of it. I never had a personal relationship with a hamburger or tartar sauce. But if it could prevent future kidney woes, I might as well ask food to dinner and induce a bond.

So that attempt to strike a rapport with my Banh Mi led me to this search and to this blog.