Farmers Market Specials -- 3/29 - 4/1 + Japan/HK Trip

By the time of this posting, Chef Andrew and his team will be on his way back from Hong Kong and Tokyo. It was great sightseeing, research and lots of eats, especially in Tokyo, where we explored as much as we could and met some very cool people. We hope to announce some future collaborations soon so stay tuned for that. Below are some of our favorite Instagram posts from our quick Asian jaunt:

Eating and admiring the art of the Japanese Egg Omelette 🍚 wait for the cooks finishing ✌️ sign. #pigsinjapan @pigandthelady

270 Likes, 17 Comments - Alex Le (@jabbalikespho) on Instagram: "Eating and admiring the art of the Japanese Egg Omelette 🍚 wait for the cooks finishing ✌️ sign...."

Dear kappa gods, bless us with a knife shop.... 😇🙏🏻🔪

200 Likes, 2 Comments - The Pig and the Lady (@pigandthelady) on Instagram: "Dear kappa gods, bless us with a knife shop.... 😇🙏🏻🔪"

The cleanest tasting uni I ever had.

11 Likes, 1 Comments - Lawrence Ho (@dimsumcookery) on Instagram: "The cleanest tasting uni I ever had."

S I P H O N C O F F E E

75 Likes, 3 Comments - Andrew Le (@fishsaucebordelaise) on Instagram: "S I P H O N C O F F E E"

For this week’s farmers market, since we were inspired by our Japan trip, we’re going to do a unique fusion dish. Here’s the Mama Le specials for the week:

#MamaNoodle
RAMEN MANG VIT — smoked duck, bamboo, shiitake, poached egg, sun noodles

#MamaRice
CARAMELIZED PORK CHOP & GRILLED ONIONS 

As always, the full schedule and menu is over at the Farmers Market page. 

Farmers Market Specials -- 3/22 - 25

Bo Kho is this week's Mama Le noodle special at farmers market. 

If you follow @pigandthelady on Instagram, then you can see some of the team members, including Chef Andrew, is galavanting through the streets of Hong Kong and are now on their way to Tokyo for a few days. All of this is for research and also some fun, like Art Basel. It’s good to stretch out the legs and venture out to see and taste what’s innovative and as you can see, they’re having a great time too. 

In the meantime, the staff is holding down the fort at both the Chinatown location and Piggy Smalls, and of course, the farmers markets. We are on our regular schedule, and here are the Mama Le specials for the week:

#MamaNoodle

BO KHO — beef brisket stew with carrots, tomatoes, garlic chives, culantro, thai basil, egg noodles

#MamaRice

SUON RAM MAN — honey glazed pork spare ribs with caramelized onions, cabbage salad, house pickles, and rice

To check out the entire menu and schedule, head over to the Farmers Market Page. 

Farmers Market Specials -- 2/22 - 25 + Chinatown Location closed 2/27 - 3/2

After the torrential rains that pretty much destroyed our booth at KCC two weekends ago, we are back in business! 

First things first, The Pig & the Lady Chinatown location will be closed from February 27 through March 2 (for lunch, and will re-open for dinner that night). The chefs need a much needed mini-vacation. It’s short, but necessary for them to rest up and come back rejuvenated. 

Piggy Smalls and the farmers market locations will still be open, however. Regarding the farmers markets, here are the specials of the week: 

#MamaNoodle
BUN RIEU —  hawaiian prawns & broth, tomato, tamarind, crab fat, tofu, banana blossom, mint, vermicelli

#MamaBanhMi
KALBI w/ KIMCHEE — korean style banh mi, grilled korean short ribs, kimchee, pickled vegetables

#MamaRice
CLAYPOT PORK & SHRIMP — caramelized pork belly, shrimp slow cooked in claypot

As always, our full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market Menu page. 

Farmers Market Specials -- 2/15 - 18, Pow Wow Hawaii SlushY Special + Da Storm of Da Century

Last week was rough for the farmers market, weather-wise, especially on Saturday during our KCC farmers market service.  Due to weather, we lost all of our tents and it was total carnage for our supplies and equipment. The strong winds hit us when we were breaking down for the day.  

Check out the video below: 

And here's the aftermath via our farmers market manager Alex's Instagram: 

Yesterday at the #kccfarmersmarket we experienced some serious weather. Just 10 minutes of high winds causes this much destruction. After 5 years of doing the markets I've never experienced anything like this. Luckily this happened after the market closed and all of us weren't hurt. For sure a learning experience. We will rebuild our set up and be back at the markets this week. See you guys then! @pigandthelady

See this Instagram post by @jabbalikespho * 204 likes

And as Alex wrote on his IG post, despite this ordeal, we’re going to resume our regular farmers market schedule this week, unless the weather is too dangerous, of course. But, in the meantime, it’s business as usual. 

Here are our specials for the week: 

#MamaNoodle
PHO SOT VANG — red wine braised brisket with poaced egg pho

#MamaRice
CLAYPOT PORK & SHRIMP — caramelized pork belly, shrimp slow cooked in claypot

#MamaBanhMi
CURRY LEMON GRASS CHICKEN — mama le’s special recipe of marinated chicken in a warm baguette, pickled vegetables

As always, the full menu and schedule is over at our Farmers Market Menu page. 

One last final shout out to our friends at Pow Wow Hawaii, which is happening now through February 18! This word-class arts and music event hosts and showcases artists from around the world, as well as mount music academies for Hawaii's youth and puts Honolulu on the map as a premiere destination for the creative industries. 

We're currently running a special deal with them for this week during Pow Wow Hawaii -- You can pick up a Pow Wow Passport at any participating store this week, including our very own Piggy Smalls. Attend Pow Wow and also make a $25 donation at Big Bad Wolf or Lana Lane Studios during the week and get that passport stamped. You can then show the stamped passport at Piggy Smalls when dining with us and get a free slushy on us! This offer is good until February 18. 

Farmers Market Specials 2/8 - 11 + Reservations still open for Valentine's & "Pal"-enstine's Dinners

Valentine's Day is next week and The Pig & the Lady is going to be hosting a special Valentine prix fixe dinner menu for all you lovebirds on Valentine's Day, Tuesday, February 14. 

The set menu is online now and we are also offering a vegetarian menu. From the creative mind of our Chef de Cuisine Keaka Lee, this year’s menu can best be described with one word, “sensual.” Please call the restaurant at (808) 585-8255 to make a reservation. You can view the complete menu (with vegetarian options) over here. 

Meanwhile, Piggy Smalls will be hosting a PAL-enstine’s Day Dinner on the same night! Come with friends, come with family or just come alone... you'll never know who you'll meet. Our menu is designed to be fun and shared, which you can view here -- Reservations only. Call us at (808) 777-3588 or email us at info@piggysmallshawaii.com to save your seat and meet other singles and become friends (or "pals")!

To make reservations for Valentine’s at The Pig and the Lady, click here. 

Or if you want to celebrate PAL-entine’s and rebel against tradition, or want to celebrate with all your single friends, then you can make reservations for this special night at Piggy Smalls by clicking here. 

Meanwhile, here’s this week’s update on Farmers Market. The schedule is the same and we will be at Blaisdell on Wednesday, Kailua on Thursday and KCC on Saturday morning. The Mama Le specials of the week are:

#MamaNoodle
PHO GA TRON — “dry style” pho, fresh cut noodles, chicken, vegetables, peanuts, vietnamese herbs, dark sauce

#MamaRice
LEMONGRASS CHICKEN — mama le’s home recipe marinated grilled chicken in lemongrass marinade and spices

#MamaBanhMi
BO LUC LAC — cubed ribeye steak, grilled with garlic and mama's specialty marinade, waipoli butter lettuce, red onions in vinagrete.

As always, check out the full menu and schedule over at the farmers market page. 

Oh, and if you haven’t checked out the video chronicling our last Outstanding in the Outfield event at Ku’uloa Ranch a few weeks ago, you can check it out below: 

The video is an independent production of Orlando Benedicto. 

Farmers Market Specials -- 2/1 - 4 + Superbowl Takeout Kit + Valentine's/Pal-entine's Dinner

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and as always, and The Pig & the Lady is going to be hosting a special Valentine prix fixe dinner menu for all you lovebirds on Valentine's Day, Tuesday, February 14. 

The set menu is online now and we are also offering a vegetarian menu. From the creative mind of our Chef de Cuisine Keaka Lee, this year’s menu can best be described with one word, “sensual.” Please call the restaurant at (808) 585-8255 to make a reservation. You can view the complete menu (with vegetarian options) over here. 

However, who says Valentine's can only be for couples? Come eat with us at Piggy Smalls for our "Pal"-entine's Dinner! Come with friends, come with family or just come alone... you'll never know who you'll meet. Our menu is designed to be fun and shared, which you can view here -- Reservations only. Call us at (808) 777-3588 or email us at info@piggysmallshawaii.com to save your seat and meet other singles and become friends (or "pals")!

To mark this occasion and celebrate singledom everywhere, check out this promo video starring our very own Chef Brandon Lee. 

Move aside, Gosling, there's a new himbo in town. To paraphrase Kanye, Brandon is all about the 808s and heartbreak. 

Since Valentine's a few weeks away, let’s discuss what’s more pertinent, especially if you’re a sports fan! The Super Bowl is this Sunday, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a Patriots or Falcons fan, the bottom-line is that you get some damn good food for your viewing party! That’s why we are packaging a Super Bowl Take-Out Kit for your party with the following: 

- Laotian Fried Chicken
- Whole Beef Brisket (simmering for 12 hours with Pho spices and broth)
- Porchetta
- Our world famous French Dip Banh Mi sandwiches

Deadline to place your orders is this Friday, February 3, To pre-order your Superbowl takeout kit, head over to the reservation page!

In the meantime, we are on our regular farmers market schedule this week. Check out the specials courtesy of Mama Le: 

#MamaNoodle
MI QUANG — pork belly, chicken, shrimp, quail egg, lobster balls, aromatic herbs, turmeric rice noodles, pork & anato seed broth, topped with shallots , roasted peanuts and a sesame chip. 

#MamaBanhMi
GRILLED PORK BELLY — grilled pork belly marinated with mama le’s special recipe

#MamaRice
SPARE RIBS DAIKON STEW — slow stewed pork spare ribs with daikon

#MamaSoup
SEAFOOD PORRIDGE — mama le’s chao or hook, cooked with fresh seafood

As always, you can check out the schedule and full menu over at the Farmers Market Menu page. 

Farmers Market Specials -- 1/25 - 28

New dinner menus for both The Pig & the Lady and Piggy Smalls debut this week! We highly recommend them, especially the silkie chicken pho. Silkie chicken are a particular breed that is very unique for its black skin and bones. Eaten during New Years for good luck!! The flavor that comes from this chicken is elegant and deep. If you haven’t tried it, then it’s a definite must!

In the meantime, we have our farmers markets and we are on our regular schedule. Here’s the Mama Le specials below:

#MamaNoodle
PRIME RIB PHO — slow roasted Rib eye, sliced to order, slow poached egg, red wine sauce, pho herbs

COM HEN — jasmine rice, baby clams, taro stems, banana blossoms, pork fat, rau ram, star fruit, with a clam broth with jasmine tea

#MamaRice
CLAYPOT PORK & SHRIMP — ground pork caramelized with shoyu caramel, coconut soda, sauted with shrimp, over jasmine rice

#MamaBanhMi
THIT NUONG — grilled Pork Belly Skewers, house pickles, shisho, mint, cabbage, roasted peanuts

As always, the full menu is over at the farmers market page. 

Farmers Market Specials -- 1/18 - 21 + Special Tet Menu

Last week, we had a great time at Outstanding in the Field and our collaboration with Chef Renee Erickson of Sea Creatures and Bateau fame. Her and her team from Seattle are absolutely amazing and they were all lovely people. It was also a great honor to rub shoulders and work alongside a James Beard winner. It was humbling and a truly great experience to collaborate and serve in one of the most picturesque and iconic locations, Ku’uloa Ranch. 

Meanwhile, we are gearing up for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday (January 28) and we are getting a head start at our farmers market this week. We’ll be on our regular schedule — Wednesday at Blaisdell, Thursday at Kailua and Saturday morning at KCC. Since the Lunar New Year or Tet as we call it in Vietnam, we are going to be serving some go-to dishes that Vietnamese serve during the Tet holidays: 

#MamaNoodles
BUN THANG — A Northern Vietnam New Years noodle soup of all jullienned ham, egg, chicken, shiitake, pickled daikon, rau ram and mint, vermecelli noodles, chicken broth. 

#MamaBanhMi
SPICY CHICKEN MEATBALL — Chicken Meatballs mixed with jicama, marinated in a spicy tomato sauce

#MamaRice
THIT KHO — Coconut braised Pork Belly and Eggs, pickle mustard cabbage, steamed rice

XOI GA — A Savory Sticky rice cooked in chicken broth, topped with poached chicken, ginger scallion sauce, shallots

As always, check out the full menu and schedule over at the Farmers Market page. 

Farmers Market Specials + Outstanding in the Field -- 1/11 - 14

We are so honored to be collaborating with James Beard winner Chef Renee Erickson from Seattle and Taylor Thornhill this Tuesday at the Outstanding in the Field dinner located at Kualoa Ranch. We are longtime admirers of them, with their amazing establishments Sea Creatures and Bateau. They are required go-to locations to dine at whenever in Seattle. For more info on this event, head over to the event page and we will also be posting pics from said event on our social media so keep an eye out for that. 

We had such fun with the organizers of Outstanding in the Field last year that we signed up for another one this year! Check out the video below to see how amazing it was last year:

Meanwhile, back to regular business at hand: We will be on our regular schedule for farmers market this week and it’ll be leaning heavy on pork for our weekly specials:

#MamaNoodle
BUN BO HUE — pork belly, brisket, aromatic, herbs, calamansi, vermicelli, pork lemongrass broth

#MamaBanhMi
PORCHETTA DIP — crispy pork belly, house sambal, shoyu pickled cucumbers, smoked onion, hue-style beef au jus

#MamaRice
SPARERIBS RAGU — smoked spare ribs in Mama Le's famous tomato based ragout (ragu)

#MamaJook
PORK MEATBALL CHAO — mama le’s comfort rice porridge with pork meatballs

As always, the full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market Page. Have a great week!

2016 Year in Review

Although we are already in the first few days of 2017, we’d like to take the time to take a look back at 2016, which was truly a banner year for The Pig & the Lady. Aside from the opening of our newest location, Piggy Smalls, we also had the great honor and privilege to win 5 accolades at the Honolulu Magazine Hale Aina Awards. There were also a couple of national television appearances and special staff outings that strengthened the bond of the Pig crew and ohana. 

2016 also was deeply personal for the Le family as Mama Le and Chef Andrew (along with siblings Alex and Allison) made the trek to Hanoi, Vietnam for a family trip and culinary research, tapping back into the roots and flavors of the ever evolving motherland. So, let’s take a quick look back on memory lane on a truly memorable year: 

JANUARY:
Staff outing to KU’UOLA RANCH OYSTER FARM — For one day, we got to all go to the beach, learn about our Ku’uloa Oysters and where they come from (Mōli‘i Pond)  and had a great time hanging out with Chef and TV host Jessica Sanchez Montoya, who was in town to shoot the season finale of her Zagat web series Foodways. You can watch the episode below:

OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD — A high profile event from this worldwide outdoor dinner tour. These people do dinners on Mt Fuji, in Chile, all over the world and the concept to to feature what that land has to offer which in turns to a very special dinner. We had to honor to cook for 150 guest in Ku’uloa. Watch the highlights here! The Ko’olau mountains are so powerful and breathtaking. So happy we were able to do this.

THIS IS WHAT COOKING IS ALL ABOUT FOLKS!! Good day to be a pig.🐷

See this Instagram photo by @pigandthelady * 605 likes

FEBRUARY:
VALENTINES DAY — Just wanted to highlight this auspicious day, because of the funny viral video promos we did like this one with Chef Brandon ala LADY AND THE TRAMP.

PASTRY CHEF GINO! — With Rachel Murai reinventing the Pig & the Lady dessert program and making soft serve our signature with our crazy flavors, we were sad to see her leave. After much consideration, and Rachel's blessing, we decided to promote within and give Gino Ojano the task of taking over our dessert program. 

It's hot today, come by for some soft serve to cool off and to visit our pastry chef @goginogo808! (#piggyfan 📷: @goodbyeelliot) #pigandthelady #PiggySMALLS #vietnamesesensibilities

See this Instagram photo by @pigandthelady * 323 likes

Now many of you see Gino and a very shy, lovable, sweet guy. What we saw in him was a fighter... Determined to succeed, humble, thoughtful, and precise in his vision of what he wanted to do with the dessert program. Promoting Gino was a no brainer and we think his thoughtful approach to his desserts is very similar to Andrew's approach is to his food. Gino has since assembled a great loyal team, creating new signature desserts that really capture his love for food and his playful yet serious personality. 

MARCH:
NORDSTROM GRAND OPENING — To date this was out biggest catering job ever. We had to do 21,000 portions of food and about 20 different dishes. It was a huge challenge for us and Chef Brandon took the lead on this project, which took him two weeks to coordinate. Sequestering him away from his day-to-day duties at the restaurant, he was indefatigable and pulled off a successful event for such a major client. 

APRIL:
SEATTLE! — We were able to close for a week and take a long awaited break. A few of us flew to Seattle for some quick R&R and to visit peers. We were honored to eat at Renee Ericksson’s restaurants and enjoy her food. It was not planned, and she discovered that we were in town from our social media feeds and now, we are collaborating with Ericksson and her team from the famed restaurant Sea Creatures next week with the next Outstanding in the Field event! More info here. 

Stick with us, you'll be fine!

See this Instagram photo by @pigandthelady * 254 likes

MAY:

It was such an honor to be on stage @risehawaii with my brother @chefandrewle talking about @pigandthelady and our origin and where we are going. Reminiscing about what we started from and where we are now is mind blowing . Best quote of the night from Mama Le who was in the crowd "what am I doing here and me and Andrew are so boring." God I love this woman.

See this Instagram photo by @jabbalikespho * 115 likes

RISE HI — Chef Andrew and Alex participated in this event, highlighting entrepreneurs in Hawaii. They both got on stage to present The Pig & the Lady story. The two brothers sort of fumbled their way on stage, not being well versed public speakers, and they were both very nervous, but they pulled through!

PIGGY SMALLS OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT — We also finally made the official announcement of the second location after months of negotiations and finalizing the lease at Ward Village. We were jumping into the fray once again!

JUNE:

PIGS TO NYC! — It was Chef Andrew’s turn in the roster of chefs highlighted in Hawaiian Airlines’s first class meal service and his turn was officially kickstarted with a major event in New York City to welcome the docking of the Hokulea arriving in the city midway through their journey across the globe. Chef and select crew flew to NYC to participate in the celebration and serve food, including participating in a food demo. 

@fishsauceborderlaise serving our KIMCHI PUTTANESCA with charred asparagus, maitake mushroom and mozzarella cheese at the @libertychallenge hosted by @hawaiianairlines. #whenpigsfly

See this Instagram photo by @pigandthelady * 354 likes

They also had a sliver of free time to hit up some major hotspots including Katz Deli, Prune, Ramen Lab, Marea, Momofuku, Uncle Boons and many more. 

HALE AINA NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED! — To our surprise, we were nominated for 5 awards. Pinch us. 
 
JULY:

WE GET SPIRITED AWAY! — In collaboration with Hawaii Theatre Center’s Hayao Miyazaki Film Festival, we hosted a SPIRITED AWAY dinner and encouraged diners to come in cosplay, dressed as their favorite Miyazaki created character. It was a sold out event and truly one of the highlights of the year. We were all transported to the wonderful world of Miyazaki. 

“IT’S ALL IN THE REFLEXES.” — This was probably the biggest highlight for us, when Kurt Russell (Jack Burton himself) dined in our restaurant with his partner Goldie Hawn! For diners who have been to our Chinatown restaurant, you may know we have a restroom in honor of Chef Andrew’s most favorite film of all time, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA starring Russell as the one and only Jack Burton! 

Our obsession with the '80s cult classic BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA has come full circle when Jack Burton himself, #KurtRussell, came to dine with us tonight. He was accompanied by his partner, the legendary @officialGoldieHawn, and it was a pleasure and honor serving them dinner. And of course, we wouldn't let ol' Jack leave until we had him pose in our BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA homage restroom! To quote Mr. Burton himself, "Ol' Jack always says... what the hell?"

See this Instagram photo by @pigandthelady * 881 likes

AUGUST:
PIGGY SMALLS CONSTRUCTION BEGINS — We finally got the green light to start the build out of our second location. We also had the unrealistic goal to open at the end of September. We were off by a month, so not bad! 

FREE MILITARY LUNCH — Thanks to an anonymous donor (a regular diner at The Pig & the Lady), who had the requirement for us to provide free lunch to the U.S. military with this donation. Therefore, we worked with Kaneohe Marine Corps and provided 600 lunches for young privates or have no family on island. We filled a lot of tummies that day. 

Our hard working crew and marine volunteers after a great lunch service today. Truly an honor to feed these guys a good meal. We really felt the appreciation. Looking forward to doing this again soon. #marines @pigandthelady @orangelement @justinnomoig @sneakyfern

See this Instagram photo by @jabbalikespho * 107 likes

SEPTEMBER:

We're excited to announce Keaka Lee @keakah3 as our new Chef de Cuisine at our flagship Chinatown location. Executive chef Andrew Le chose Lee for his sensitivity to the quality of ingredients and dedication to good technique in the kitchen. "It's such a privilege to be working with a chef of his caliber. Chef Lee brings a quiet confidence and a supreme work ethic to the team. The Pig & the Lady family is very happy to welcome him on board," said Le.

See this Instagram photo by @pigandthelady * 349 likes

NEW CHEF IN TOWN — We were very fortunate and honored to bring onboard Keaka Lee as Chef de Cuisine, who had just moved back from NYC after working in such revered kitchens like Gramercy Tavern.  Keaka and Andrew make a great team, and the younger cooks are lucky to work under him. 

FUCK! THAT’S DELICIOUS — Chef Andrew and the restaurant was featured in the Hawaii episode of Action Bronson’s food and travel show FUCK! THAT’S DELICIOUS on Vice channel. It was definitely a crazy episode. 

Here is Chef Andrew, Mama Le and his brother Alex at last night's Hale Aina Awards presented by @honolulumag. It was an amazing accomplishment and we can't believe we have come so far. Chef shares this award with his dedicated staff, who he lovingly still calls the kids from the SANDLOT. #sandlotkids #pigandthelady #vietnamesesensibilities

See this Instagram photo by @pigandthelady * 376 likes

HALE AINA AWARDS ARE FINALLY HERE — Never would we think that we would win 5 awards at the Hale Aina Awards including Best Oahu Restaurant and Restauranteur of the Year. It was all a dream that night at the Royal Hawaiian, where the awards were held. It just fuels us to continue what we do and make great food! It definitely ups our game and we are determined to exceed that threshold in 2017. 

OCTOBER:

~ITS ALL GOOD~ Thank you for everyone's support on this crazy journey. It's DAY 6 here and we are pumped for lunch service starting at 11am! (#piggyfan 📷: @goodbyeelliot) #piggysmalls #itsallgood

See this Instagram photo by @piggysmallshawaii * 222 likes

PIGGY SMALLS OPENS! — We held a preview of Piggy Smalls at the farmers market. It allowed Chef Brandon to provide a sneak peek of his new menu and it did not disappoint. A week later, we had our soft opening at the Piggy Smalls at Ward Village. It was one of the most hectic months ever and we were completely fueled by ramen and lack of sleep, but we persevered and it was a great success!

HOSTING MORE CELEBS! — Hi, Jack Black!

Also dinner with @fishsauceborderlaise idol the one and only Mr. Jack Black! @pigandthelady

See this Instagram photo by @jabbalikespho * 213 likes

NOVEMBER: 
HANOI TRIP — Chef Andrew and Mama Le traveled to Hanoi for a quick research trip. This being Mama’s hometown, she had not been back in over 60 years and there was some soul searching, as the family visited her old family home, which was seized by the government and turned into a tenement. It was emotional but apropos to go full circle. They also had some amazing street food, including visiting the now famous bun cha restaurant where President Obama and Anthony Bourdain visited. 

If President Obama and Anthony Bourdain ate here, this is where @fishsauceborderlaise & @jabbalikespho must eat! The original #ObamaBuncha as the locals affectionally call it. Aside from the attention of the celebrity, the bun cha here is legit. #pigsinhanoi #pigandthelady #vietnamesesensibilities

See this Instagram photo by @pigandthelady * 677 likes

DECEMBER:
BLUUURRR — We are still recuperating from a crazy holiday season filled with a plethora of events, private parties, buy outs and record amount of customers who came to dine with us at our two locations. We saw the light at the end of the tunnel on Christmas Eve, when were able to come together as a team and break bread and enjoy each other’s company and also rate each other's ugly Christmas sweaters. It was a perfect capper to a crazy year. 

Staff #Uglysweater Luau today. Despite our staff Xmas lunch being so limited in time, we had tons of fun & laughs and were very proud of the disgustingness that we were able to accomplish. #xmas #familymeal

See this Instagram photo by @jabbalikespho * 178 likes

We all look forward to another amazing year and will work extra hard to really be a vital component in Hawaii's amazing culinary scene. Just as long as you keep coming, we will be there cooking away. Mahalo and Chúc Mừng Năm Mới (Happy New Year)!

Farmers Market Schedule & Specials (1/4 - 7)

Here are some snapshots of the Pig and the Lady ohana during 2016. It was a blast and we couldn't have done it without our amazing diners and patrons. Mahalo! 

Happy New Year! We hope that you had a great new years celebration and it was surrounded by friends, family, potluck and football. As we wrote in our last blog, we are excited for 2017 and have some great things in store for the restaurant, which we will reveal right here on the blog in the coming weeks. We are still in the planning stages, but we are slowly getting there. 

In the meantime, we are back on our regular schedule for the farmers markets — Blaisdell on Wednesday, Kailua on Thursday and KCC on Saturday. As always, it’s a fun time at the farmers markets and we appreciate the devoted patronage. December was crazy busy and we hope this good fortune continues into the new year. 

Therefore, here are Mama Le’s specials for the week: 

#MamaNoodles
HU TIEU SAIGON — Vietnamese/Chinese noodle soup with barbecued pork belly, shrimp, pork cracklins 

#MamaBanhMi
SPICY CHICKEN MEATBALL — chicken meatballs, spicy tomato sauce, pickled vegetables, toasted baguette

#MamaRice
SOI GA ROTI — vietnamese five spices roast 1/4 chicken, sweetened yellow sticky rice 

As always, you can check out the full menu over at the Farmers Market page. 

Farmers Market Schedule + Happy New Year (12/28 - 31)

We hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far. The Pig staff celebrated with an ugly Christmas sweater theme last week and it was a total blast.

We are gearing up for the final week of 2016! Just for your info, both restaurants will be closed on New Years Day. 

This year has been an eventful one for us, with the opening of our second eatery, Piggy Smalls at Ward Village. We look forward to 2017 and have some grand plans in store, and we can’t wait to implement them. As always, you can check our blog for all the latest updates. 

Meanwhile, we are sticking to our regular farmers market schedule — Wednesday at Blaisdell / Thursday at Kailua / Saturday morning at KCC. Below are our specials for the week: 

#MamaNoodle
BO KHO -- beef brisket stew with carrots, tomatoes, garlic chives, culantro, thai basil, egg noodles

BUN THIT NUONG — grilled beef, local pork, and its all marinated in savory fish sauce vinaigrette, lettuce, veggies, vermicelli noodles

#MamaBanhMi
ADOBO MUSHROOM — hamakua mushrooms braised Filipino style

BABI GULIG — balinese flavored pork, lettuce, house pickles, cucumbers, topped with  fried garlic

One final thing to mention — It’s Chef Andrew’s son’s 2nd birthday this week! If you see little Ollie at the restaurant, then wish him a happy birthday! His middle name is “Lucky” (yes, that’s his legal name) and Chef considers him a lucky charm and part of this whole culinary journey. 

As always, you can check out the full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.

Farmers Market Schedule (X-Mas Week) -- 12/21 - 24

As we go into the week leading up to Christmas (don't forget to get your last minute stocking stuffers from us), we are maintaining our regular farmers market schedule — Wednesday, December 21 at Blaisdell / Thursday, December 22 at Kailua / Saturday, December 24 at KCC. Come to any of these, but also celebrate Christmas Eve by having breakfast with us at KCC. 

New items in this week’s Mama Le menu include a Vietnamese style pumpkin bisque, which is perfect for this weather. We are also bringing back the Bun Bo Hue again because it was wildly popular last week. Here are the rest of the specials: 

#MamaNoodles
PORCHETTA BUN BO HUE — porchetta pork belly, brisket, aromatic, herbs, calamansi, vermicelli, pork lemongrass broth

#MamaSoup
VIETNAMESE PUMPKIN BISQUE 

CHAO HAI SAN (Seafood porridge)

#MamaBanhMi
BABI GULIG — balinese flavored pork, lettuce, house pickles, cucumbers, topped with  fried garlic

#MamaRice
STUFFED TOMATOES — minced pork, shiitake mushrooms, roma tomatoes

As always, you can check out the full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.

Pork Fest at Farmers Market + Holiday Stocking Stuffers (12/4 - 17)

As we blogged last week, we have some great stocking stuffers for this holiday season. Aside from them being highly functional, they’re also quite chic, as is evident by the photo below of our pal @pineappleice modeling our #PiggySmalls tote bag and our cool Mama Le inspired t-shirts!

We also have our Holiday Piggy Poop for pre-order as well made by our amazing pastry team — valrhona dark chocolate peanut butter covered bits of chez and honeycomb mix, salted pretzels, walnuts, dried cranberry, mini marshmallows, chocolate crinkle cookies and maldon salt tossed in coconut powdered sugar. 

Or, if you can’t decide, we also offer gift certificates as low as $10! 

All of these items can be bought at the two locations (pending availability of that day’s stock) or ordered online from our Goods and Merchandise site.  

At the farmers markets this week, we are calling it pork fest as we go back to the core of what The Pig & the Lady is all about. All of our specials this week have pork in it and we are loving it. Here they are: 

#Mamanoodlespecial
BUN BO HUE — pork belly, brisket, aromatic, herbs, calamansi, vermicelli, pork lemongrass broth

#Mamarice
THIT KHO — vietnamese style caramelized and braised pork shoulder with eggs

#Mamabanhmi
BABI GULING PORK BANH MI — balinese flavored pork, lettuce, house pickles, cucumbers, topped with  fried garlic

#Mamaricporridge
PORK CHAO — mama le’s nourishing vietnamese rice porridge

#Mamadrynoodle
BUN CHA HANOI — grilled pork belly & pork shoulder, marinated in fish sauce, sides of pressed vermicelli noodles, otsuji lettuce, house pickles, shiso, lemon balm

We are not messing around! If you’re a pork lover, then swing by the farmers markets! We will be on our regular schedule. As always, you can check out the full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.

Holiday Gift Ideas & Hanoi in Our Mind at Farmers Market (12/7 - 10)

Child not included. 

Have you seen our new #PiggySmalls tote bags? They're durable, large (perfect for farmers market produce) and can hold a 2 year old! They’re the perfect holiday stocking stuffer! You can order them over at our official website, or buy them in person at our Chinatown or Ward Village locations. Kudos goes to our model, Ollie, who really tested the durability of this bag by stuffing himself in there like a marsupial. 

In addition, since we are in the season of giving, why not purchase a gift card for that perfect “Secret Santa” present? Buy them in person at the restaurant for any denomination and the receiver can use it at either The Pig & the Lady, Piggy Smalls, or even at the farmers market! 

Holiday Piggy Poop was such a big hit last holiday season that we are bringing it back again. 

Another great stocking stuffer is the return of the Holiday Piggy Poop — valrhona chocolate covered bits of bacon fat waffle cone, salted pretzels, toasted walnuts, dried currants, mini marshmallows, valrhona crinkle cookies and maldon salt tossed in coconut powered sugar. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? They’ll be available for purchase soon with pre-orders starting next week. 

Since Chef Andrew and Mama Le have returned from their epic Vietnam trip, they’ve got Hanoi in their mind. Therefore, the farmers markets will be featuring some Northern style culinary traditions that are rarely seen on menus in Vietnamese restaurants in America. 

Here are some highlights for this week’s farmers market menu:

MIEN MANG GA
Mien = Glass Noodle
Mang = Bamboo
Ga = Chicken
This dish has so much flavor due to the pork stock and bamboo. The glass noodles, on the other hand, are similar to chicken long rice. Therefore, with the weather getting colder, this is the perfect dish to warm you up at the farmers market.  

A top shot of our crew eating Bun Cha in Hanoi earlier this month. 

HANOI BUN CHA — This BBQ dish with noodles and herbs is the best family style Vietnamese meal ever. With all the herbs, grilled and marinated pork meat and noodles combined, it’s extremely satisfying. This was a big hit at the farmers market last week so we are bringing it back again. 

CHAO GA — Using J. Ludivico free-range chicken, this is the ultimate Mama Le comfort food: rice porridge with chicken, a slow poached egg, and chicken skin cracklins. Again, perfect food for our colder climes this week. 

As always, the full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.

Hanoi Trip Recap + Happy Birthday Chef Andrew!

B&W photo above is Mama Le's childhood home circa 1953 and the below photo is Mama Le and her kids and friends at the same location, 64 years later. (Hanoi, Vietnam)

Chef Andrew, GM Alex, their sister Allison and Mama Le have just returned from an epic trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. It was a research trip but also a life affirming one that culminated with Mama Le returning to her family villa 64 years later, after she and her family moved south to Saigon after the Communist party defeated the French colonialists and took power. It was an emotional visit, since it was also the first time for Mama to meet her cousin, who resides in a small room in the house with his family, while the government rents out the rest of the villa to other tenants. 

But even with this bittersweet tone, for the most part, it was an amazing culinary experience filled with people who really nurtured us during our one week stay there. Hanoi is a city that is full of wonderful, caring people with simple pleasures and the inherent desire to share Vietnamese culture and all its filial roots. Vietnam, at its core, is matriarchal and you can see how Hanoi folks, especially the women, completely "mothered” us -- People that helped us without any hesitation because they wanted us to enjoy Hanoi. 

A perfect example is when the ladies at a particular street food eatery "kidnapped" Mama Le to get her medicine for her cold and also took her to the salon to get her hair done. Oh, and they filled our bellies with nurturing Vietnamese food that swelled our souls. 

Here are some select photos from our trip. 

So, we are back from the motherland, full of ideas and in the coming weeks and months, you’ll see our inspirations in future iterations of the menu. Oh, but there is one thing we need to include sooner than later — Vietnamese EGG coffee. All of us were hooked and in search for the perfect cup every morning. 

In addition, it’s perfect timing for Chef to return to Hawaii because it’s his birthday this week! If you see him, give him a big bear hug and he celebrates with friends and family. 

Finally, the holiday seasons are upon us so why don’t you consider The Pig & and the Lady for your office Christmas party or have lunch or dinner in the restaurant. For more info, head over to reservations. 

Also, we are resuming our regular farmers market schedule this week:

Wednesday, Nov 30
Blaisdell — 4pm - 7pm

Thursday, Dec 1
Kailua — 5pm - 7:30pm

Saturday, Dec 3
KCC — 7:30am - 11am

As always, the full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market Page. 

Farmers Market Specials (11/9 - 12) + 3rd Year Anniversary this Weekend

Bun Cha Hanoi, the famous dish that comes from the Northern region of Vietnam. It was recently made famous when Preisdent Obama ate at a Bun cha restaurant with Anthony Bourdain during his visit to the country earlier this year. 

The Pigs are going to Vietnam! We have been chosen to be a part of a nationally televised food and travel show that will air sometime next year.  Mama Le and Chef Andrew will be visiting some famous restaurants and also visiting old stomping grounds of Mama's youth. It will be a fun, at times emotional journey, but it all comes back to food, as mother and son will visit various hot spots and stalwart traditional eateries to gain more knowledge on the history of Vietnamese cuisine. 

To celebrate, we are going to have a Hanoi cuisine inspired menu for this Wednesday’s Blaisdell Farmers Market. Also, this Saturday, November 12 will be our 3rd anniversary of the opening of The Pig & the Lady! We cannot believe that it's been already 3 years but at the same time, it feels like the restaurant just opened yesterday. It has truly been a harrowing, yet exciting journey for Chef Andrew and his family, and we cannot be more prouder of him, his vision and the hard working staff that supports him everyday by providing a unique dining experience for our patrons. 

Therefore, in celebration of this accolade, as well as the upcoming Vietnam trip,  check out the special farmers market menu:

BUN CHA HANOI — grilled pork belly & pork shoulder, marinated in fish sauce, sides of pressed vermicelli noodles, otsuji lettuce, house pickles, shiso, lemon balm

HANOI PHO BAC — rare beef, chili vinegar, fresh ginger, cracked black pepper, green onion & cilantro, fresh noodles

CHA CA LA VONG — local fish marinated in turmeric & galangal, fried in turmeric oil & scallions and dill, served with rice vermicelli, peanut, lemon balm

As always, the full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market page. 

Finally, we want to wish another brother a happy birthday, general manager Alex! You see him everyday either being a server at the restaurant, or wiping down tables, and also running the farmers market programs. HIs work ethic is astounding and loves being in the trenches with the staff. He is always smiling and wanting to ensure a great experience for our diners, sometimes to a fault. But, it just shows he truly cares about the food and that is the best kind of attitude and demeanor, especially at The Pig & the Lady. So, if you see him on November 10, then wish him a happy birthday. 

"Chúc mừng sinh nhật, Alex!" 

Farmers Market Specials (11/2 - 5)

Now that the craziness of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival is now over, we can settle back into our normal routine, which includes our regular schedule for the farmers market. Here’s the Mama Le highlights for this week: 

#MamaNoodle
HU TIEU MY KHO — char siu, tomato crab sauce, shrimp, quail egg, ground pork, glass noodles

#MamaBanhMi
GRILLED LEMON GRASS CHICKEN BANH MI

As always, you can check out the full menu and schedule over at the Farmers Market page. 

Finally, we are going to be serving at a special fundraising event this Saturday, November 5 for Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation. The event is called Music of the Night and is being held at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. We will be serving pupus, while our compadres like Lee Anne Wong (Kokohead Cafe), Wade and Michelle Karr-Ueoka (MW Restaurant) and Colin Hazama (Royal Hawaiian) will be taking care of dinner. Of course, gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi will also be there!

Farmers Market Specials (10/26 - 29) + Pre-Order Our Gourmet Party Mix + Hawaii Food & Wine Festival

Halloween is also no longer for kids, Instead of chowing down on fun size candies, why not pre-order some Halloween themed part mix made by Chef Gino from The Pig & the Lady? Part of Frolic Hawaii’s Downtown lunch pop-up this Friday, October 28! Here’s the ingredients of the party mix:

Sriracha party mix with Honeycomb, Chex, toasted coconut, pretzels, black pepper meringue, pumpkin spice meringue and chocolate crinkle cookie bits

You know you want some! Going for only $10, you can pre-order them over at the Frolic Hawaii website. 

Have you been to Piggy Smalls yet, our new restaurant? It’s open for business and serving lunch and dinner everyday! To check out the menu and location info, head over to the Piggy Smalls official website. 

We will be at the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival this Friday, October 28 at the Hawaii Convention Center. Check out more info here. We’re also going to be at the “Keiki in the Kitchen” event as part of this year’s Hawaii Food & Wine Festival. This is going to be a fun day full of activities, presentations and of course, food, for the whole family! The event takes place Saturday, October 29, from 10am - 3pm. For more info, head over to the event’s website. 

For this week’s farmers market schedule, it will be the same as always. Mama Le’s specials are as follows:

#mamanoodlespecial
BUN RIEU — Northern style crab noodle soup, tomatoes, crab meat, banana blossoms, shredded ing choy, fresh vermicelli noodles

#mamabanhmi
BO LUC LAC —  cubed ribeye steak, grilled with garlic and mama's specialty marinade, waipoli butter lettuce, red onions in vinaigrette

As always, the farmers market menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market page. 

Farmers Market Specials (10/19 - 22) + Piggy Smalls Now Open

It was a mad rush and lots of sleepless nights leading up to last Friday, but we did it! Piggy Smalls, our second restaurant, is now open! Check out the great press from Honolulu Magazine and Frolic Hawaii (Mahalo to Frolic for producing the video above). 

The restaurant, located in the old Kua Aina space at Ward Centre, will be open 7 days a week. For more info, head over to the official website or also follow Piggy Smalls on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat! 

When you're at the restaurant, make sure to get this P.I.G. Snapchat filter and geotag us!

There was so much enthusiasm and good will, and it was such a fun time! People marveled at the cool new mural that is the centerpiece of the restaurant, designed by Steven Lam and Matthew Tapia; diners enjoyed the new menu, driven by head chef Brandon Lee and pastry chef Gino Ojano; and the experience was, overall, truly fun and it seems that diners are loving the new restaurant! Mahalo for your patience and your patronage!

In the meantime, its business as usual for the rest of of our services, including farmers market, which will be on its regular schedule this week. We are also going to be at the Taste of Town event at the Royal Hawaiian this Friday, October 21, a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation. 

Back to the farmers market, here is Mama Le’s weekly specials, which are new dishes having their debut on the menu this week:

#MAMANOODLESPECIAL
SMOKED BUN MANG VIT -- Smoked duck meat, bamboo, shiitake, VERIMCELLI, ginger fish sauce, aromatic herbs

#MAMABANHMI
CLAYPOT PORK BELLY & SHRIMP -- A Vietnamese Sloppy Joe almost of pork belly , shrimp, cooked with coconut juice, black pepper and shoyu caramel, house pickles, cucumbers, cilantro

As usual, you can check out the menu and schedule over at the Farmers Market page.