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PAGE 14 | NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2021

RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

BAHN MI (pictured on the left) is a Vietnamese staple. Huong Binh Bakery makes the sandwiches homemade with a variety of choices for meats and vegtables for $4.50. Quang Le, the general manager of the bakery, is pictured on the right with a steam bun centered with pork, sausage or egg for $2.75 or $10.50 for a pack of

four. (Photo: Patricia Leslie)

Eden Center Deli and Bakery Brings Vietnamese Food and Culture to F.C.

by Patricia Leslie

Falls Church News-Press

Speaking Vietnamese is not a requirement at the Huong Binh Bakery and Deli in Eden Center, but it helps, especially if you’re the only person in the restaurant who does not speak the language.

The woman in front of me in line could speak English, though, and she kindly helped me with my food selections.

From the wall listing, I chose M2, “Banh Mi Ga (Jambon)” which the menu describes as a shredded dry chicken sandwich with veggies. I would call it “shirred” chicken surrounded by lots of lettuce and chopped carrots, onions, and cucumbers and some of the best French mayonnaise to be found in the DMV, homemade at the Huong Binh, of course. It was only $4.50 and the calories did not take a toll on my mental health or my wallet.

In Vietnam, the “banh mi” is a staple and similar to a six-inch submarine sandwich of crusty bread, cut the same way. Huong Binh serves nine banh mi variations, ranging from one with five types of meat and vegetables to a fish patty, grilled meatballs or a sardine sandwich with a tomato sauce and pickled radish.

When I later told Quang Le, the general manager, about my ordering experience, he laughed: “We took a page right out of McDonald’s play book and posted the menu high on the wall with numbers so everybody could see it and order more easily.”

Huong Binh’s menus all have English translations, but who needs English when 95 percent of your customers are Vietnamese, which Le told me they are.

But, at his family’s restaurant, they do care a lot about customers, all their customers, whatever nationality.

Le tells about a regular American customer who comes in and says “’I love these sandwiches and they’re under $5. Where else can I get that?’

“We know our customers and want them to come in three or four times a week. Most of them already know what they are going to order,” Le said.

And, indeed, they did. Or, at least the ones I observed in a long line on a recent Saturday afternoon knew what to order.

They moved quickly in the bakery, weaving between readyto-go foods stacked on tables and refrigerators of cold drinks and desserts.

“We’re a ‘grab and go,’” Le said. Wikipedia describes the Eden Center as “the largest Vietnamese commercial center on the East Coast, and the largest Asian-themed mall on the east coast of North America.” Le said: “It’s a quite competitive business and Eden Center has no ‘non-compete.’”

Which rewards the customer with good prices, food and egg rolls priced at 70 cents. Now who could resist that?

They were scrumptious, crunchy and tasty, a tad greasy one must admit, but at 70 cents, who’s complaining? The restaurant barely breaks even on them.

And then there was the tofu. Sigh.

My last bout with tofu left my mind brimming with cooked leather, I told Le.

But at Huong Binh Bakery, the “hot tofu” dessert is a hot seller ($3 or $5).

Please, he urged me, try some. What was a girl to do when faced with to tofu or not to tofu?

“We believe we make the best,” he said. And after my initial sampling (and continuing thereon), I agreed!

Every morsel was delicious with the magical syrup of ginger, brown sugar, and water from a recipe thousands of years old.

Which brings me to the best:

The durian fruit drink ($5), absolutely the freshest, tastiest of any natural drink I’ve had (which includes freshly squeezed o.j.), made from sugar cane (the “healthy sugar, natural sugar,” not the “fat” processed kind, Le said) and the imported southeastern Asian fruit.

Some other Huong Binh specialties include ready-to-goplatters in 20 varieties, most for $16, which have enough to feed a family of four, Le says. “Where else can you feed a family of four for that? That’s what you’d pay for one person in a sit down restaurant, and you’d easily spend $60 for a family outing.” (Huh? Only $60?)

Huong Binh lists 75 menu choices at the restaurant his parents started in 1986 on Columbia Pike. They moved to Eden Center in the early 90s. Le says Huong Binh is the oldest continually operating Vietnamese specialty bakery and deli in the region.

“My mother is quite the story,” he beamed. “She came from a privileged family in Vietnam and she didn’t know a thing about cooking until she was 45 and needed to develop a talent after the war. She went to cooking school, and I’ll guarantee you that 100 percent of the other Vietnamese restaurants here are run by self-taught cooks. Not my mom. She trained!”

She is 89 now and her husband is 90. He still comes into the bakery seven days a week and works four to five hours, Le said, conducting “research,” doing odd jobs and whatever is needed at the restaurant. Like their son who left his engineering career five years ago to help out.

Le attributes the deli’s success to authentic Vietnamese food, taste, pricing (“we are very price sensitive”) and “being plugged in to the community. My dad supports organizations and non-profits. They see a familiar face, like an old friend. We’re a friendly place.”

If anyone needs proof that “our food is healthier and more delicious” than most found in the U.S., Le’s parents are living proof of their son’s claim.

Soon the bakery’s popular yule log which is a maple sponge cake with Christmas decorations ($25) will be available and although it will add calories to the count, Santa is not making a list.

Huong Binh Bakery & Deli, Eden Center, 6781 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church 22044, ph. (703) 237-9228, www.huongbinh.com, open every day 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

• This article is part of the “Restaurant Spotlight” series, which will feature one local restaurant and its menu each month. To suggest that your restaurant be covered, contact Amanda Snead, News Editor at asnead@fcnp.com

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Falls Church School News & Notes

LOCAL

NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2021 | PAGE 15

Over 300 Students Vaccinated at Clinic

Vaccines, photo props, lollipops, stickers, new masks and tears were all available at the FCCPS Vaccination Clinic on Wednesday, the 17th. FCCPS says thank you to everyone who participated and helped make the Clinic a huge success, including Fairfax County Health Department, FCCPS Staff, volunteers, and the FCEPTA, for providing food and beverages. The tears were mainly tears of joy from the grateful parents who could finally add an additional mitigation tactic to their children’s COVID tool belt.

FCCPS Vaccine Clinic Number Two: December 8th. More details are coming soon.

FCEPTA Awards Teacher Grants

The FCEPTA says Thank you to everyone who supported the fundraising events like Trivia Night. Through your support, the FCEPTA was able to award eight teacher grants this week.

Evidence-Based Literacy Materials will provide more multi-sensory, research-based literacy teaching materials in firstgrade classrooms. #HandleWithCare Lounge for Staff will provide items to create a safe, relaxing haven for Oak Street staff.

Best of Both Worlds will provide new hard copy books for use in 5th-grade literary circles.

Numicon is an approach to teaching math that helps kindergarten students see connections between numbers.

Using Sound Walls to Build Decoding Skills so K-2 students in reading intervention can quickly match the sounds letters make with graphic representations, early literacy acquisition is improved.

Stand Up provides some standing desks for a 5th-grade classroom where students are given more opportunities to move throughout the day.

More than Peach provides all Mt. Daniel classrooms with a starter pack of coloring tools to ensure all student skin colors are represented. Let’s Talk will provide tools to aid JTP students with articulation deficits, phonological processing deficits, or motor speech deficits.

Teachers and staff who missed this cycle of teacher grants will have an opportunity to apply in late January / early February of 2022.

Student Feedback for Food Services

FCCPS Food Services department would like to hear feedback on how your students feel about the school lunch options.

For students to submit feedback, they can go to the School Lunch page on the FCCPS website, select their school, click on a food item, click on the number of stars they would like to rate it and submit comments on the next page.

Please email Richard Kane at rkane@fccps.com if you have additional questions or comments.

OSE Science Olympiad Was A Success

The Oak Street Elementary School Science Olympiad team won medals in seven of the 19 events, with 17 students winning medals. In the ‘Crave the Wave’ event, all six students who participated won medals. The Oak Street team came in third place in ‘The Wright Stuff’ Event. Medals and certificates were distributed on Friday.

MHS Students Worm Composter

The Meridian Urban Farm Project has started a worm composting bin (vermiculture). The students feed the worms leftover organics, and the worms produce fertile soil. The more food given, the more worms there are and the greater the soil production. The next step for the project is to scale it up by using building waste, which will involve asking students and staff to separate their trash as they dispose of paper/ cardboard and finish eating. The goal is to have an internal source of soil for the gardens planned in the building and around campus.

Curious about the Meridian Urban Farm Project? Email Carey Pollack at pollackc@fccps.com to see how you can get involved.

FCCPS FACILITIES DIRECTOR BRIAN FOWLER showed up for his Mystery Reader duties at Jessie Thackrey Preschool in a tractor! The students loved the opportunity to touch it. And they also got to sit in it and operate the bucket. (Photo Courtesy FCCPS)

ViSSTA Program To Start Next Week

The asymptomatic screening program provided in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Education will start on Thursday, Dec. 2. The schools anticipate the elementary students (and staff) participating will be tested in the morning and secondary students and staff in the afternoon.

It’s not too late to sign up for the Covid ViSSTA testing program. Please complete the permission form at FCCPS Covid Screening Test Permission Form on the FCCPS website for your student(s) to participate. This is a voluntary program. Any FCCPS staff member or student registered for this program can access free onsite testing each week at school. Please get in touch with John Brett at jwbrett@fccps.com, Director of Communications, for registration questions.

MHS International Club Winter Drive

The Meridian High School International Club is hosting a supply drive now through December 3 to support newlysettled refugees in the DMV area by donating bedding, blankets, and other winter necessities (hats, gloves, coats, etc.). Donation boxes can be found at the entrances of Meridian, Mary Ellen Henderson, Oak Street and Mary Riley Styles Library. Donations can also be made via their Amazon wishlist, which will ship the items directly to them.

For more information and a link to the Amazon wishlist, follow the club on Instagram at @ meridianinternationalclub.

MUSIC Days Now Through December 5

FCCPS asks Falls Church City families to consider participating in Meridian MUSIC Days by hiring students for jobs like yard work, babysitting, dog walking, animal sitting, spreading mulch, car washing, musical performance, holiday decorating, gift wrapping, etc.

The fundraiser runs now through Dec 5th. If you have multiple jobs, please fill out this form for each one. You may submit jobs as far in advance as you’d like. We’ll confirm receipt of your job request via email, and then during the week before your job (by Thursday), you can expect another email from us with the names of the students assigned to your job. It will also include instructions on how to make your donation.

This annual fundraiser helps students pay for travel to perform at Walt Disney World.

For more information and to book a job, visit https://musicdays.square.site/.

Informational Speakers Needed

Do you have expertise in the treatment, mitigation, messaging, or policy decisions related to Covid-19? Meridian’s Student Council is planning an information session for students on December 9th at 2 p.m. Email Chloe Calabrese at chloecalabrese11@gmail.com if you are interested.