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8.28.2009

this week in vietnamese sandwiches


The now-famous Kogi Truck, which feeds the Los Angeles area with its special fusion of Korean-flavored tacos, kicked off a food truck trend and has inspired a wave of meals-on-wheels novelties, including at least one blatant knockoff (yeah, I'm talking about you, Calbi).

The latest mobile food venture to hit the road: Nom Nom Truck, serving up banh mi -- Vietnamese sandwiches -- to the hungry kids of L.A. The truck reportedly had its official launch this week, drawing a huge crowd getting their "nom" on. Check out their website here and follow Nom Nom on Twitter here.

In other banh mi news, a war is brewing in New York. When Hanco's opened on Seventh Avenue back in February, it was the only banh mi joint in the neighborhood. But last week, Henry's set up shop just four blocks away -- and appears to have made no attempt to distinguish itself from Hanco's: Banh Mi Beef: Hanco's Accuses Henry's of Foul Play.

According to Hanco's owner Hanco Tang, the owners of Henry's are former employees who left his store in the past two weeks -- he fired one, and the other one quit days later. Tang had no idea that they were setting up shop down the street... and apparently stealing all his ideas, from the looks of it. Shady.

According to the article, they were also engaging in some sneaky sandwich sabotage while working at Hanco's -- putting cold meat in the bread without heating up, putting extra mayo (what?!) and even attempting to recruit one of Tang's sandwich makers, unsuccessfully. They did manage to steal away a bubble tea barista. Bastards. But that's the cutthroat world of banh mi, baby.