Serving it “the right way”

Excerpt from NextPittsburgh feature by Tom O'Connor

Growing up in Vietnam, sisters Kellie and Tuyen Truong dreamed of owning a business together. Now residents of Pittsburgh, they were inspired to fulfill their dream based on a mutual craving for the traditional bánh mì they remembered as children. Bánh Mì & Tí, a Vietnamese eatery dedicated to the much-loved sandwich, is now open in Lawrenceville, and the sisters happily refer to themselves as co-owners.

“We started from scratch, basically me and my sister with the help of our family, to create all of this and now we finally get to see it open,” says Kellie, who takes particular pride in the fact that Bánh Mì & Tí is owned by women. “We’re very happy to be in this busy part of Lawrenceville with neighboring businesses who are so welcoming to us.” With the doors now open, their focus turns to serving “bánh mì, the right way.”

Bánh mì is traditionally a meat-filled sandwich served on a single-serving size baguette along with fresh cucumbers, cilantro, pickled carrots, chilis, mayonnaise and cheese. It has both French and Vietnamese influences with a history tied to Vietnam’s French Colonial period. French-leaning ingredients like paté and head cheese, and of course the baguette, are key elements in traditional versions of bánh mì.

Born in Vietnam, the sisters had a special connection to the sandwich they remembered growing up, but had a hard time finding the traditional flavors they loved unless they made the bánh mí themselves. “We went to a couple places, but always felt like it wasn’t our bánh mì,” says Kellie. Because both women enjoy cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, it seemed like a natural step to share what they liked making themselves.

Their mom, who has a background as a chef, encouraged the idea, and now provides key support in the kitchen. “She helps us stick to the traditional way of putting all the ingredients together the way you would traditionally see in Vietnam,” says Kellie, “and also helps us make a lot of ingredients, including the mayonnaise on our own.…We found the perfect baguette to serve everything on from BreadWorks Bakery, based right here in Pittsburgh. It has just the right crunch which is really important.”

“It’s a lot of very simple ingredients all coming together to make the bánh mì so fresh, but that’s what we want to share with people,” adds Tuyen.