It didn’t take long for East Side Banh Mi to ingrain themselves in the community. Back in the summer I told you about how the owners moved to Nashville from California and decided to open their cozy little Vietnamese eatery in the face of the pandemic, and we were all rewarded with some really inventive versions of traditional banh mi sandwiches courtesy of Grace Nguyen and Chad Newton. They’ve since established relationships with their neighbors, particularly with some of their fellow chefs in town.
Together, they’ve banded together to create a special fundraiser for The Nashville Food Project that they are calling the Nashville Banh Mi Project. Talented chefs such as Sean Brock, Bryan Lee Weaver, Philip Krajeck, Sarah Gavigan, Julia Sullivan, Mailea Weger and tattooist/foodie Chad Koeplinger have each come up with their own unique banh mi creations.
East Side Banh Mi will feature each chef’s version of the classic baguette for dine-in, carryout and delivery for a limited time and contribute $1 for each sandwich sold to The Nashville Food Project. Rumor has it there might even be a little friendly competition between the chefs to see whose sandwich raises the most money, so vote with your wallet for your favorite!
Chef Weger of lou kicked off the campaign with this Smoked Kabocha Squash Banh Mi, topped with a lentil "patè," fermented chili vinaigrette, fried shallot mayo, pickled veggies, cucumber on cilantro on a freshly baked Baguette. If all of them look as good as this, it’s going to be a tough competition, but a delicious one as well!
