Pork. Meatballs. Banh Mi.

I may have pimped this before, but it's worth pimping again. This being a recipe for pork meatball banh mi, those delightful Vietnamese sandwiches -- a term that really doesn't do them justice, but neither do "hoagie" or "sub," the connotations of which just can't live up to the glory that is a proper banh mi -- about which I regularly dream and always lust.

This recipe needs no doctoring. But, if you wish, you could easily substitute mint for the basil, which I believe I did when I made these some months ago (taking the extras last night out of the freezer for an amazing weeknight dinner), and could probably use a little less garlic, which I believe I also did.

A fresh, crusty, French-style baguette is very important, as is the fresh cilantro. The labor is well worth the effort.

What to Think in a Situation Like This?

I have professed my undying love for Lucy's banh mi. But I'm not sure how to react to this?

Mr. Cole said county health inspectors can post a yellow "Consumer Alert" decal for repeated, uncorrected critical food safety violations. Restaurants have 10 days to solve the problems or they could be shut down, he said.

Last year, three such alerts were issued among some 7,500 food facilities in the county, which includes establishments such as caterers, mobile vendors and grocery store deli counters. So far this year, there have been four alerts: at The New Oriental Wok in Lawrenceville; Plum Convenience Store in Plum; My Ngoc, Strip District; and Moby Fish and Chicken, Downtown. All four alerts have been lifted.

The restaurant highlighted in bold text above is the restaurant outside of which Lucy makes and sells her delectable banh mi. Now, in a sense, I could be reassured, because Lucy does most of her work outside of the restaurant: the chicken is on the grill, the jalapenos and red onions and cilantro and carrots are in small plastic containers, the baguettes come out of a small plastic bag just behind her, etc.

How much of the prep work goes on in the inside kitchen that had the little problem with the "uncorrected critical safety violations" I don't know. For now, I'm going to give Lucy the benefit of the doubt, because those sandwiches are one of the great joys in my life (whether that's a sad statement, I'll leave others to judge). But, if for some reason that ever changes, at least I've got Reyna's and Chicken Latino to always fall back on.