Out & About: It's a Bánh Mì World

For those who have a preconceived notion that Houston has no soul, I've decided to add an Out & About feature that will not only motivate me to break out my camera again (yay!) but also show why I love this city more and more each day.

Last night I got to experience what could only be called the city's largest bánh mì fest. The Great Bánh Mì Cook-Off packed 11 chef booths in the original Kim Son in Downtown.  

The lineup was as follows: 

(1) Chef King & Co. - Darius King
(2) Copper Chefs - Conor M. & JP
(3) Culinary Creations Catering - Cristian Gonzalez
(4) Fat Bao - Pak Tsui
(5) Flying Saucer - Ben Rabbani
(6) Fung's Kitchen - Hoi Fung
(7) GiAu Bar n Bites - Nick Nguyen
(8) Hearsay Gastro Lounge - Edwin Chanas
(9) Kim Son Restaurant - Kim Son Chef
(10) R&D Barbeque - Dale Ellington
(11) Taco Nuts - L.J. Wiley  

Here's how it went down:

The ingredients...

Who doesn't love some Jack and butter?

Mmm... fried pork belly...

R & D BBQ

Chef King & Co.

Hearsay Gastro Lounge

 

The winner!  R&D's BBQ Bánh Mì was both the Judge's and People's Choice! It's true- we Texans can't have enough of our barbeque.  

The food scene has really exploded here, and this was a creative way to bring some notable chefs together to raise money for charity.  This fundraiser helped to support BPSOS, which has done great things for minority communities including spearheading efforts to cut down human trafficking.  BPSOS hosts a large fundraising event every year, and I'm excited to see if they can top this fun and scrumptious event! By the way, I did have a taste of every single entry, and my two favorites were the pork belly and quail egg bánh mì by Giau Bar N Bites and the sardines and watermelon bánh mì by Fat Bao.  Creative concoctions for the win (at least in my book)!