O.K. Frankie, banh mi pizza time!
I take neither blame nor credit for this one
A million years ago before I became the Culinary King of Queens turned hangry publicist I was an Outer Boroughs Chowhound turned blogger for Gothamist and wrote a column called Ethnic Pizza Patrol. It covered creations like falafel pizza from Benjy's Kosher Pizza Dairy Restaurant & Sushi Bar in Kew Gardens, which is still open, and La Esquina Argentina in Corona, sadly closed.
I hadn’t thought much about that column until I heard of VPho Pizzeria & Restaurant via IGer @hungryartistny. It’s a Bronx pizzeria with a sideline in Vietnamese or vice versa, depending on how you think about it. I’d been to University Heights for Vietnamese years ago, but still have yet to eat pizza at Pugsley or Louie & Ernie’s.
When my pal the Meat Maniac, who is of Southeast Asian descent and is as obsessed with red sauce Italian-American fare as I am about all manner of Asian culinary culture, proposed a trip to Morris Park to check out what is surely NYC’s only pizza and Vietnamese spot last month I was in, after all Justin (aka @hungryartist) had dubbed it some of the best Vietnamese food in New York City. I’d perused the menu and saw they had pho, bun bo hue, several seldom seen in NYC snail dishes, bánh mì and of course pizza, but the unholy mashup of Italian and Vietnamese handheld foods hadn’t occurred to me.
“You know we gotta ask them to make a bánh mì slice,” the Maniac said on the drive over. As we made our way down Williamsbridge Road the orange awning reading, “American & Vietnamese Food,” came into view. For some reason the dudes behind the counter were wearing Jack’s Dining Room Yes Chef baseball caps, but I haven’t seen VPho on his feed, maybe he’s gatekeeping.
Douchey hats or no, the pizza men didn’t bat an eye when asked to create a bánh mì đặc biệt slice. Topped with peppery pork liver pâté, Vietnamese ham, and head cheese it was served with jalapeños, pickled carrots, and cilantro on the side. Once assembled and lashed with Sriracha it made for an unwieldy if tasty slice. Did we do it for the gram, because we’re gluttons or culinary colonizers? Who knows, who cares, all I know is that I wished Iived closer because the snails in passion fruit butter (ốc hương sốt chanh dây) were amazing.
VPho & Pizzeria, 2004 Williamsbridge Rd., Morris Park, Bronx, NY 10461