After working in the Okanagan wine country for a few years, Cheata Nao returned to the city in which she grew up, and now manages Vine Arts’ Edmonton location. She lives near where she works, but goes to Chinatown “all the time” for groceries, taking the “Kingsway Mall route” to get there.
“I kept seeing Banh Mi Cali in their little building, and one day I was just like, I’m gonna go in and see what these guys are all about.”
“These guys” are actually one guy, Nicholas Truong, and he’s all about making “California-inspired” Vietnamese sandwiches using a family recipe perfected over 20 years.
“He’s super nice, and he makes everything from scratch, including the bread,” Nao says.
Nao is partial to its Meat Ball Baguette (Xíu Mại), a mix of pork and chicken with all the typical fixings: cucumber, carrots, cilantro, jalapeño peppers and mayo.
“I don’t love it when the bread is too hard and crusty. So this is a perfect consistency, nice and soft in the middle, and he doesn’t skimp on the butter.”
But the best part of Nao’s weekly Banh Mi Cali visits is seeing her old stomping grounds.
“I grew up in that McDougall neighbourhood, and there was a huge Cambodian community. There’s a little park across from the John A. McDougall School that used to be dubbed ‘Cambodian Park,’ because all the Cambodian families would go there. So I have a little soft spot for that neighbourhood, and I want to help support businesses in that community.”
Banh Mi Cali
Central McDougall | 10503 Kingsway #3, Edmonton | 780.425.0562
Hair and makeup by Tiiu Vuorensola
This article appears in the Jul/Aug 2024 issue of Edify
