Appetite Check: What Are You Hungry For?
On cravings, chefs, and the clues we keep missing.
đŹ Welcome to Snacks and Spirals â No. 1
A weekly dispatch from Your Hungry BFF â serving timeless reflections for your work, life, and appetite, all through the lens of food.
đ 1 QUESTION TO SPIRAL ON
What part of your ambition have you been starving just to stay likable?
đ A HISTORY LESSON, SERVED HOT
How Vietnamese food taught us to play the Long Game
When Vietnamese families arrived in the U.S. post-warâ
they werenât trying to make a statement.
They were trying to make rent.
Dinner wasnât a flex. It was logistics.
They figured out what workedâ
what stretched, what froze,
what could handle being reheated three times.
They built systems in saucepans.
Routines in noods.
Phá» wasnât about nostalgia.
It was about staying fed.
NÆ°á»c cháș„m wasnât a sideâ
it was the variable that let one base dish become five.
Thatâs what most people miss:
Vietnamese food isnât loud, but itâs brilliantly repeatable.
It doesnât ask to be center stageâ
it knows the power of durability.
In work, in food, in lifeâ
the real flex isnât the rebrand.
Itâs what you can do well, over and over,
until people finally notice.
đŹ BITES TO CHEW ON
I.
We crave what weâre told to hideâ
until it leaks out as burnout, obsession,
or a habit we mistake for taste.
II.
In food and life, the quiet ones always win.
Not because theyâre loud,
but because theyâre consistent.
III.
Great chefs know mastery lives in muscle memory.
Founders too. Itâs not what you launchâ
itâs what you repeat, refine,
and canât stop doing even when no oneâs watching.
đ 3 VIETNAMESE SPOTS WORTH EATING IN NYC
Haâs Äáș·c Biá»t a.k.a Haâs Snack Bar (Lower East Side)
Once a scrappy pandemic pop-up, now a cult communion run by Mission Chinese alums and power coupleâAnthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns.
A tiny Vietnamese spot with big Parisian energyâand zero ego.
Must-try:
The menu shapeshifts each time I wentâ
yet every bite still felt like déjà -vu to a dream.
A wild-herb salad that reads your diary. Snails lounging in tamarind butter.
Scallops slicked with buttered nÆ°á»c máșŻm and peasâugh insanely good.
Think you loathe fish sauce? Youâll leave writing it love letters.
Why it matters:
Their cooking doesnât bow to tradition;
it interrogates itâthen throws a dinner party around the answers.
BĂĄnh Anh Em (East 13th St) - takeout available
Founded by pals John Nguyen and Nhu Tonâwho went from slinging cÆĄm táș„m in the Bronx to a BĂĄnh mĂŹ hit on the Upper West Side. Their take on northern classics hit like a love letter written on sandpaper: tender, but it leaves a mark.
Must-try:
Tableside cháșŁ cĂĄ LĂŁ Vá»ng that arrives sizzling like gossip, cloud-soft bĂĄnh cuá»n rolled to order, seafood phá» so umami itâs basically truth serum.
Why it matters:
Proof that technique and warmth can co-starâno compromise, just chemistry.
La Äong (Union Square) - takeout available!
Chef Pithayakornâs minimalist spin on Vietnamese tradition pulls in phá» purists and TikTokers alikeâeveryone angling for the perfect steam shot.
Sister restaurant to Pranakhon and Thai Villaâboth great for group dinners, especially if youâre emotionally prepared for someone to bail last minute.
Must-try:
The cĂĄ chiĂȘn nÆ°á»c máșŻmâHanoi-style whole fish kissed with turmeric and dill, crisp yet delicate, wrapped in herbs and meant to be eaten with your hands and full attention.
The Miyazaki A5 wagyu phá»âquietly luxurious, deeply layered, and somehow still comforting enough to carry home. Yes, even as takeout.
Why it matters:
The menu boasts 45 dishes but doesnât feel like a flex.
đ BONUS BITES
Counter Service â W 14th st
Not Vietnamese. Not pretending to be.
Just the banh mi that hijacked my moral compass. But it is unreasonably good.
The kind of good that makes you angry it costs $19âand angrier when you realize youâd gladly pay it again tomorrow.
Chipotle founder Steve Ells pivoted from robo-vegan flop to sandwich savant, drafting Michelin-decorated chefs Andrew Black (Eleven Madison Park) and Neil Stetz (Quince) to build a menu with zero chill.
On paper, it sounds like a PR stunt.
In real life, it tastes like controlled chaos on a baguette.
Must-try:
The Charred Pork Banh Mi âfish sauce and lemongrass-marinated pork belly, smoky, juicy, and glistening like it knows exactly what itâs doing.
Topped with a slick layer of creamy chicken liver pùté that hits you slow, then deep.
Finished with pickled veg, cucumber, jalapeños, cilantro, and mintâ
cool, sharp, and just enough crunch to make you pay attention.
The bread? It shatters on impact. Like itâs daring you to make a mess.
Why it matters:
When fine-dining minds go casual, you get a $19 sandwich that feels like insider trading. Also helps that Andrew and Neil are genuinely lovely humansâwhich makes the emotional damage taste even better.
I walked in hungry. I walked out texting Jonah, my husband:
âI think I just cheated on bĂĄnh mĂŹ.â
đŠFINAL BITE
Food isnât just fuelâitâs a portal.
Into memory, sure.
But also into power, politics, precision.
When someone serves you something they've made a thousand times before, you're not just tasting technique â you're tasting the choices theyâve had to defend.
Who they became when no one clapped.
What they kept cooking when nobody asked.
Next week: How Chinese Food Became American â where tradition shapes you, and ambition dares you to carry it differently.
p.s. if you liked this, wine not share it with a friend? and DM me your favorite Vietnamese spots in nyc â iâm always hungry for recs!
till the next bite,
Your Hungry BFF đ