Just when I'm feeling that I'm writing about the same restaurants or different restaurants at the same locations over and over again, I learn that Baltimore Pho (pronounced "fuh," sort of) is going to open where Mencken's Cultured Pearl used to be at 1114 Hollins St., across from the market.

Major renovations are still going on. The food will be traditional Vietnamese with a little fusion thrown in for good measure, and of course pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup.

I'm guessing from talking to the general manager, Kaori Ozawa, that Baltimore Pho will be more than just another ethnic place. She says it will be a restaurant "with a message." When I asked what the message was, she said "hope" and drew a connection between Baltimore and Vietnam as "both going through transitions."

The opening will probably -- I stress probably -- be sometime in October.