Why I Love Lucy....and vodka.

The content below was originally included in my story "Fresh Finds are on the Menu at the Farmers@Firehouse Market" for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Most of this was cut from the published story in the editing process, which is just the way it goes sometimes. I'm not a restaurant reviewer and I do not aspire to be a restaurant reviewer. In fact, I find most contemporary reviewers, particularly those of the local variety, to be boring, inconsistent, a bit arrogant and moody for my taste and generally not at all relevant to my decision making process. However, when I find restaurants, products, businesses and people that excite and entertain me, I feel the need to share those details with everyone. There are plenty of bad restaurants, bars and all manner of businesses, artists and entertainers out there. So I believe that sharing my most positive moments and interesting experiences is the best use of my time and effort. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Why I Love Lucy
Early in the fall of 2011 I was making my weekly trek through Pittsburgh's Strip District to pick up restaurant supplies for work. I was hungry enough to decide that street food was going to have to do the trick for my breakfast/lunch that day so I skipped my usual short cut route and headed down Penn Avenue. My plan was to stop as soon as I saw a parking space somewhere after 24th street and buy some chow from the closest street food vendor. 

I had passed this particular food stand on Penn for years without stopping because I'm typically in a ridiculous hurry to finish my shopping and get to work. I'd also always assumed it was just another chicken-on-a-stick purveyor so I never felt compelled to check it out. On this day, a parking spot [magically] became available right in front of the little lady whose grill is always set up in front of Bar Marco in the 2200 block of Penn. 

I was mentally prepared for my chicken-or-whatever-on-a-stick lunch when she said “I make Vietnamese hoagie. You want one?” Well, hell yes, I want one. I didn't know what a Vietnamese hoagie was at the time, but I definitely wanted one. I watched her as she cut a piece of fresh baguette through the center and layered it with a very generous portion of juicy, marinated grilled chicken, fresh cucumber and jalapeno pepper slices, fresh cilantro and a combination of pickled, chopped cauliflower, shredded carrots and sliced red onions. “Sauce?” she asked. “Oh yeah” I said. I didn’t know what the sauce was and I didn’t care. The incredibly promising combination of ingredients and aroma of the grilled meat (grilled on a stick no less) was all the information I needed. I was planning to take my lunch to work with me but as I sat in the car returning a text message, I was overcome by the delicious smells and too weak to resist the temptation any longer.

I opened it up to take “just one bite”. Fifteen minutes later, my steering wheel, shirt and chin were covered with the sticky, sweet mystery sauce from the sandwich. And there I was, looking under the car seats for anything that resembled a beverage to snuff out the blissful little fire on the tip of my tongue caused by the seeds of the fresh jalapeno. I was as happy in that moment as I have ever been.

Ngan Thi Sheets, otherwise known as “Lucy”, is a bubbly and talented little dynamo who operates a Bahn Mi (pronounced "bon my") stand in front of 2216 Penn Avenue in the heart of the strip district. She’s there Monday through Saturday from 8am until she runs out of product. She makes these incredible sandwiches from May through October then she travels home to Vietnam to visit her family during our cold  weather months. I was instantly her newest fan and devotee.

Many of Lucy's customers stop for one of her delightful concoctions in route to their work places during the morning rush hour. She's ready with her Bahn Mi, the only thing she sells, early in the morning so her loyal fans can enjoy this stunningly delicious grub during their lunch hour. 

Bahn Mi is actually the Vietnamese word for bread but has also come to refer to this delicious and atypical sandwich creation because it uses baguette. The traditional Bahn Mi sandwich is a common Vietnamese street food and a perfect example of how cross cultural interactions influence food trends and traditions. The conventional Bahn Mi stand offers a sandwich that is a product of French colonialism in Indochina in the 1800’s and represents an unlikely co-mingling of two diametrically opposed culinary styles. The baguette is layered with French ingredients like pate and mayonnaise as well as Vietnamese ingredients like fresh cilantro, pickled carrots, hot peppers and Vietnamese pork and pork belly cold cuts. Lucy’s version of the sandwich, although not one hundred percent traditional with its use of chicken and a tangy, sweet and hot sauce, is one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had and it may be the best street food I’ve ever eaten. The combination and balance of flavors and textures creates an almost perfect sandwich eating experience. Don't try to do this at home because you won't have the most important ingredient available to you and that is Lucy herself. There's a little love in Lucy's Bahn Mi. Take the time to stop and meet her and sample her wares. It's a $6 sensation you won't soon forget.

Bar Marco and the Spicy Mango Bloody Mary

While I was visiting Lucy and forcing a Bahn Mi on intrepid Trib photographer Heidi Murrin, the bartender from Bar Marco, Ngai Wharff, came outside with samples of fresh, spicy and savory, marinated mango slices. Locally grown, seasonal herbs, onions and hot peppers are combined to create a unique, well balanced and refreshing marriage of flavors that are the main ingredient in the Spicy Mango Bloody Mary offered on Bar Marco's cocktail menu. Naturally, three minutes later, I was seated at the bar, eagerly anticipating my first sip of the promising liquid breakfast.This tall, cool glass of happiness won bartender Ngai Wharff second place in the national finals at the NOLA Tales of the Cocktail competition in New Orleans, Louisiana last year and rightfully so. I can't imagine the drink that took first place over Ngai's mango brainchild.

Bar Marco was founded by four friends who graduated from Greensburg Salem High School together in 2003. Bobby Fry, Justin Steel, Michael Kreha and Kevin Cox are best friends and now bar owners and business partners. There’s an art gallery that showcases the works of local artists on their second floor. On the first floor, the restaurant and bar are open Wednesday through Saturday from 5pm to 2am. Their menu features many locally sourced delicacies; small plates, charcuterie, chilled asparagus soup, duck BLTs, white wine lentils and mussels with sorrel among other items. Brunch is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 10-3 and includes items like breakfast risotto, hanger steak and eggs, whiskey cured salmon and plantain pancakes. If that’s not enough to lure you down there, just consider the cocktail menu and it's selection of creative libations like Campari and champagne based cocktails, flights of champagne, negroni, caipirinha and of course, my new favorite, the Spicy Mango Bloody Mary. The Bar Marco guys are also big fans and supporters of Lucy and her Bahn Mi stand, which alone makes them worthy of my patronage. The Farmers@Firehouse market, Lucy’s Bahn Mi and Bar Marco’s Spicy Mango Bloody Mary are all within an arms length of each other on the same block of Penn Avenue and available to you every Saturday morning.

Drink up Yinz SAD Bitches