When Chef Andrew started his pop-up, The Pig and the Lady, it immediately became a family affair. As Andrew became popular in the local food scene, so did his main influence, his mother, Mama Le. Paying homage to her, Andrew reserved the 4th course in a 5-course menu, to his mother, who would ignite people's taste buds with traditional, home-cooked Vietnamese dishes. She expanded many people's palates and awareness for Vietnamese cuisine. People soon realized that Vietnamese cuisine is more than just pho, although her pho is a force to be reckon with.
Our first Pop up June 2011
In September of last year right after our 4th menu, Mama Le went to Vietnam with her husband to expand her horizons by enrolling in some cooking courses to refresh her Vietnamese cuisine repertoire. Mama Le was learning quite a bit, from Vietnamese sashimi dishes to roasting a whole suckling pig and she was excited to return to Honolulu and expand her 4th course designation.
Then, the unpredictable happened -- Mama Le suffered a stroke and was immediately sent to hospital, where she would stay for another month. The whole family flew to Saigon to her bedside. Although she was partially paralyzed, she was making incremental progress everyday. But, Mama Le's hopes were dashed and she fell into depression.
Oct 2011 Mama Le recovering in Saigon.
Returning home was a long, arduous road. With the pop-up temporarily closed and the future of The Pig and the Lady on hold, Andrew decided to take a stab at the farmers markets. He was inspired by his recent trip to Vietnam, and eating in various food stands and night markets. He wanted to capture that same feel of the Asian night market but with Mama Le's secret family recipes.
Slowly but assuredly, The Pig and the Lady at the farmers markets was gaining a following. Although Mama Le was not at the helm, it was 100% Mama Le, with her recipes and home-cooked comfort food goodness. This being a family affair, with siblings Alex and Allison manning the booth and setting up and breaking down tents, Mama slowly became more involved. Hey, it was her recipes, right?
Her strength and energy was slowly increasing but it was also getting worrisome for the family. She was, AND STILL IS, on a road to recovery, and her forcing herself to stay up late at night to monitor the boiling of soups, stews, and chopping of vegetables, was putting a strain on the family. But, Mama Le was resilient and in a way, cooking for the farmer's markets was her therapy.
Eventually, some help was hired, and many of the tasks were unburdened from Mama and Andrew, but it is still a family affair, and mom and pop enterprise. Or in this case, mom and son enterprise. Today, The Pig and The Lady lives on at three farmers markets a week. With the pop-up iteration still up in the air, it was about time to do one before it goes to the next stage. And why not do one with Mama Le at the helm?
November 2011 Pic of our First day @ the Farmer's Market
February 2012 As Mama Le gets better and can mingle with our wonderful customers.
Thus, we are honored to have a special two night pop-up dinner service with Mama Le's first pop-up menu, and Chef Andrew as sous chef. This time it's "The Lady" who's going to be in front of the "&."
Come celebrate with us as we celebrate Mama Le and a little taste of what she has cooking in her head. Let me tell you, making a 5 course menu was hard because if she had it her way, it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 courses. Hopefully this is a start of many more to come!
Here is the menu below! We really hope you enjoy Mama Le's first ever pop up!
TOM CHIEN BOC COM
Tapioca - Flake Crusted Kauai Shrimp, thin vermicelli, fish sauce vinaigrette
CANH CHUA
Otsuji Farm's fresh Talapia, taro stem, pineapple, tamarind broth
GA NUONG NIEU XOI CHIEN PHONG
Claypot of braised chicken with shallots, thai ginger, pandan leaves, lemon grass, puff rice
HU TIEU MY THO
A noodle soup of roasted pork loin, quail egg, shrimp, fried shallots, chrysanthem, fresh herbs, finished with a red crab sauce.
CHE XAM BAO LUONG
Lotus Root & seed, Chinese Dates, dried Longon & Komba
TICKETS FOR APRIL 30TH 7:30PM
TICKETS FOR MAY 01ST 7:30PM
