Lucy's back. She's a fixture in the Strip District, and I bet you know who she is. Lucy Nguyen is the Vietnamese vendor who sets up a grill in front of My Ngoc Restaurant, 2120 Penn Ave.

Unless it's raining sideways, she's there seven days a week from early morning until late afternoon selling banh mi, classic Vietnamese hoagies -- Hanoi hoagies, if you like.

The sandwiches are partly French technique, partly Vietnamese ingredients and all delicious. Lucy will ask, "What size you want? $4, $5 or $6? Chicken or pork?"

Then into a freshly cut baguette she piles a skewer's worth of marinated and grilled chicken or pork, followed by pickled carrots with ginger, sliced onions and icy cucumbers, chopped cilantro and a sprinkling of blazing bird chiles and jalapeno peppers.

To finish it off, each banh mi gets a drizzle of sweet brown sauce, just enough to balance the heat of the peppers.

The result is an explosion of flavor and texture. Want a drink with that? Lucy's 11-year-old granddaughter, Denise, will make you a fresh lemonade.

The banh mi is a product of French colonialism in Indochina, combining French baguettes with grilled chicken and pork. Other fillings might include pork meatballs, shredded pork or tofu.

A breakfast version in Vietnam includes eggs fried sunny-side up with onions, sprinkled with soy sauce, and piled onto a fresh, and sometimes buttered, baguette.

Lucy will be at her post until late October, when she leaves to spend the winter in Vietnam. Her daughter, Jackie Nguyen, owns the 17-year-old My Ngoc restaurant, which specializes in the cuisine of Vietnam and Thailand (412-765-1150).

-- Marlene Parrish