Saturday March 19, 2016 - 6-8:00PM
Join us for a six course dinner featuring pure rice sake!
Part of our 28 menu options for the @nordstromhawaii grand opening is lots of Vietnamese herbs; 30 pounds of Mint and Thai Basil is alone! We are committed to make 21,000 plates for the event so this prep is 2 weeks in the making!
Tomorrow is the big day for us! We are catering the grand re-opening of Nordstrom’s new location at Ala Moana Shopping Center! The move is part of the $573 million Ewa wing redevelopment of Hawaii's largest mall. The new three-floor, 185,000-square-foot location will put Nordstrom near the state's first Bloomingdale's store.
The grand opening party is a huge, huge gig and we’ve got almost the entire crew working the event. The team has been prepping for the last two weeks for this big event. If you’re there, say hi and we hope you enjoy our menu!
But there’s no rest for weary because we have another event this Friday to celebrate the Moana Surfrider’s 115th anniversary with an Ocean Vodka Mixdown and would love to invite you to participate. The overall event is being held around an Ocean Vodka cocktail competition. Each participating restaurant will provide a pupu as well as a cocktail to be entered into the Ocean Vodka competition. We are looking for inspired Chefs and mixologists who are interested in promoting and showcasing their own talent and cuisine.
In the meantime, we’re on our regular schedule for the farmers markets:
Wednesday, March 9
Blaisdell, 4pm- 7pm
Thursday, March 10
Kailua, 5pm - 7:30pm
Saturday, March 12
KCC, 7:30am - 11am
This week’s menu highlights from Mama Le include the following:
#MamaNoodle
HU TIEU MY THO — pork loin, shrimp, and fresh cut noodles (dry style) in red crab tomato sauce
#MamaBanhMi
BO LUC LAC — cubed ribeye steak, grilled with garlic and mama’s specialty marinade, waipoli butter lettuce, red onions in vinagrete
#MamaRice
TOM RANG THIT BA CHI — claypot shrimp and pork belly with stick rice
As always, the full menu is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
This past Sunday, the P&L crew had the privilege to get a tour at Manulele Distillers to check out how Kō Hana Agricole Rum is made. The latest venture of our former bar manager Kyle Reutner, this specialty rum made from heirloom sugar cane was very impressive. It is meticulously crafted from farm to bottle, growing single varietals that are hand harvested, pressed to juice and then distilled to perfection — resulting in one of the world’s finest pure cane rums.
Kyle walked us through the distillery process from cane to bottle, and it was not only an education but it was so cool to see such high standards in production and ingredients held in very high regards, all done in our backyard. Oh, and the tastings were awesome too! And of course, it is not a P&L staff outing without it ending with an epic barbecue!
Thanks to Kyle and the team at Manulele Distillers for being amazing hosts. We are proud to be carrying their product in our bar and if you want to go on your own tasting tour on site, head over to the official website for more info.
In the meantime, we have a big catering gig (perhaps our biggest one) next week with the grand re-opening of Nordstrom in Ala Moana Shopping Center. We plan to serve about 10,000 small plates, so if you’re attending the event, say hi!
As for farmers market, we are on our regular schedule:
Wednesday, March 2
Blaisdell, 4pm - 7pm
Thursday, March 3
Kailua, 5pm - 7:30pm
Saturday, March 5
KCC, 7:30am - 11am
Mama Le specials for this week’s farmers market menu include the following:
#MamaNoodle
MIEN MANG GA — poached chicken, shiitake, bamboo , glass noodle
#MamaBanhMi
PORCHETTA — crispy pork belly, house sambal, shoyu pickled cucumber, smoked onion, hue-style beef au jus
#MamaRice
JAMAICAN “Jerk” CHICKEN — dry rubbed jamaican style chicken, grilled to perfection
As always, the full menu is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
Finally, meet our new pastry chef Gino Ojano! He’s actually been with us for awhile, working under the tutelage of our former pastry chef Rachel Murai, who moved to the mainland to join her husband. As the smiling face and bubbly personality behind the #PIA dessert bar, everyone loves Gino! He has taken over the reigns and has been promoted to head pastry chef and we're super excited to have him segue into a role that will still provide continuity to the current menu, but also provide him opportunity to take it into new directions as well. Check out this video that gives a snippet of his pastry philosophy!
We are on our regular farmers market schedule for this week. Here’s a quick reminder:
Wednesday, February 24
Blaisdell (4pm - 7pm)
Thursday, February 25
Kailua (5pm - 7:30pm)
Saturday, February 27
KCC (7:30am - 11am)
Highlights for this week’s menu include the following:
#MamaNoodle
CANH THUON — Similar to CANH CHUA, this multi-flavorful North Vietnamese noodle soup comprised of beef shank, ray ram (Vietnamese mints), tomato tamarind broth, and fresh rice noodles.
#MamaBanhMi
BO LUC LAC BANH MI — Cubed ribeye steak, grilled with garlic and mama’s specialty marinade, waipoli butter lettuce, red onions in vinaigrette
#MamaRice
THIT KHO — Vietnamese style caramelized and braised pork shoulder with eggs. The ultimate Vietnamese comfort food!
That pretty much covers it for this week’s farmers market schedule and menu. As always, you can view the full menu over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
In the meantime, do you work in downtown and want to grab a bite at the restaurant but fear the dining area may be too packed? We’ve recently upgraded our take-our ordering system and its now powered by ChowNow, one of the most reliable and award winning online ordering platforms in the market today.
Just visit our TAKE-OUT page or download the app for your iPhone or Android, and it's that easy. Simply fill out your order and designate the time you will arrive to pick it up and we’ll take care of the rest! You can pre-order your take-out too, up to a week in advance! It’s that simple. So, what are you waiting for?
Chef Andrew Le recently was given the opportunity to prepare and execute a special dinner menu for 'Outstanding in the Field' held at Kualoa Ranch. Here is a video showcasing the evening. To find out more about 'Outstanding in the Field' visit outstandinginthefield.com
Mahalo, Chef Rachel Murai! Photo taken by @goodbyeelliot.
“Sorry bro, she’s off the market.”
This week’s blog is celebratory but also bittersweet. The leader of our #PIA team, Chef Rachel Murai made her last dessert with us yesterday during our Valentine’s Prix Fixe dinner event. Rachel is set to move to Oklahoma in a couple of months to be with her future husband, which means, she’s got to plan a wedding before she leaves the island! That’s right secret admirers, Rachel is taken and he’s a stand-up guy!
When Chef Andrew was able to snag Rachel, it was deemed a major coup. She had just left stints at both Nobu and Vintage Cave. The staff was abuzz that a pastry superstar was joining our ranks! Rachel was instrumental in designing the restaurant’s dessert program from the ground up.
She brought her own insight and notes to the dessert bar/chef’s station and really stepped up our game as a whole, gaining recognition for her sweet confections and culinary inventiveness. After only two short years, she’s earned a Hale Aina Bronze Award for Best Dessert and has been featured not once, but twice, on UNIQUE SWEETS, which is nationally televised on the Cooking Channel.
But even more so, Rachel was like, and is, family. Her future hubby proposed to her at the restaurant! She built a community and following, and most of all, an amazing team that loved and respected one another. We are very sad to see her go, but also wish her well as she matriculates into the next chapter in her life’s adventure.
No matter what, Chef Rachel will make waves wherever she goes and we will be tracking her progress, as we hope to cross paths very soon. Although the roster has left the coop, she’s left Team PIA in good, trusted hands, as Kari and Gino take over the reigns.
We look forward to the continuing legacy that Rachel has imprinted with our dessert menu, but also look at the possibilities of where her pupils will steer the menu next! Therefore, follow them at hashtag #pigandtheladydessertbar. They’ve got big shoes to fill, but they’re up to the task. As the Koreans say, “Fighting!”
So this is not a goodbye, but a “see you soon again.” A restaurant sees people come and go all the time. But, Chef Rachel is more than just a face. She's a part of The Pig and the Lady foundation and is a lasting brick that will keep this whole wild enterprise propped up. Mahalo, Rachel, for everything! Don't forget to follow her on Instagram, @ichibanitsutsuboshi.
As for our Valentine dinner yesterday, it was a smashing success. We were at capacity and had six seatings last night. Mahalo goes to Foreseeable Futures for providing live music that brought a wonderful and romantic ambiance to the dinner. We can’t thank you enough! Our patrons loved it and we just booked them for our Mother's Day brunch event!
In the meantime, check out this photos taken from last night's amazing event. Mahalo to @melissa808 @jabbalikespho @konaish @goodbyeelliot @lkrand for taking photos!
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming — We’re back at three farmers markets this week. Here’s the schedule:
Wednesday, February 17
Blaisdell, 4pm - 7pm
Thursday, February 18
Kailua, 5pm - 7:30pm
Saturday, February 20
KCC, 7:30am - 11am
Highlights of the farmers market menu include the following:
#MamaNoodle
BO KHO w/ BEEF SHANK — Vietnamese style beef stew, simmered with star anise and special spices and served with fresh cut noodles
#MamaBanhMi
BEEF SHANK BANH MI — Hey, why not serve this week’s Vietnamese beef stew as a banh mi as well? The broth serves as an amazing dip and complements a slightly toasted baguette. Prepared to be wrapped in the epitome of comfort food goodness.
GRILLED BEEF TONGUE w/ JAEW SAUCE — This is pretty self explanatory. Believe us, this is not FEAR FACTOR food either. Grilled beef tongue is so amazing and we served a sneak peek last week, which was a big hit.
#MamaRice
PORK RAGOUT — Mama Le’s pork and peas French stew, cooked with a tomato based ragout. This is simply amazing over a bed of rice.
As always, the full menu is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
Chuc mung nam moi! Happy Year of the Monkey! This past weekend, we ushered in Lunar New Year with a lion dance celebration at the restaurant. It was a lot of fun and no matter how old you are, you’re always going to be giddy like a kid when the lion dancer comes right next to you to receive “lixi” or red envelopes for good luck and prosperity! Check out the video below (courtesy of Orlando Benedicto:
This coming week is going to be jam packed with events and other special and auspicious announcements. First off, the restaurant has changed its menu for both lunch and dinner. To view the new menus, click here.
Secondly, we are still taking Valentine Day reservations! We’ve actually expanded our seats for the primetime hours of 6:00pm - 7:30pm. If you are interested in booking a pair of seats, then head over to the Valentine dinner reservations page.
For the farmers market, we are back in full force over at Blaisdell, Kailua on Thursday and KCC on Saturday. As always, the full menu is over at the Farmers Market menu page.
Oh, one last thing. We will also be serving at this Thursday, starting at 6pm at Ward Village (old IBM Meeting), We will be partnering with HIFF and Howard Hughes to promote the free screening of THE BEAUTY INSIDE over at Couryard Cinema. Have a great week!
So, what did we miss?
Starting tomorrow (Tuesday), the restaurant will be re-opened and fully recharged after a week of rest and relaxation. We also will introduce a new menu to kick things off! Stay tuned for more info on our social media.
Since we are back to work. we’ll resume our regular farmers market schedule:
Wednesday, February 3
Blaisdell 4pm - 7pm
Thursday, February 4
Kailua 5pm - 7:30pm
Saturday, February 6
KCC 7:30am - 11am
Highlights from the menu this week include the following:
#mamanoodle
- Bun bo hue with pork shank and brisket
- Pho Bac — Northern style pho with rare beef (Saturday KCC only)
#mama banh mi
- Saigon Banh mi (Saturday KCC only)
- Porchetta banh mi
#mamarice
- Caramelized ground pork w shrimp
Quick reminder that we are still taking reservations for our special Valentines celebration. If you haven’t made any reservations for you and your significant other. You can make reservations here.
As always, the full menu is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
Hey, even though we are at the tail end of our week long break, we’ll be at the KCC Farmers Market tomorrow morning, bright and early from 7:30am thru 11am! It’ll be a NOODLE BAR themed menu, just like the old pop-up days in Kakaako. Here’s some of the selections from the menu:
PHO BAC
Northern style pho with rare beef
PHO PORK SAUSAGE
Pho with grilled pork sausage
PHO JOWL
Pho with grilled pork jowl
PHO BACON
Breakfast pho with thick cuts of pork belly bacon
PHO GA
Slow cooked chicken pho
Yep, it’s definitely a “Pho Fest” tomorrow morning! As always, you can check out the full menu over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
In the meantime, we’ll be closed on Monday for lunch and then back and open for business (with some much needed upgrades in the restaurant) on Tuesday, February 2nd!
Also, right on the horizon is Valentine’s Day, which will fall on Sunday, February 14. We are normally closed on Sundays, but will be open for this special occasion, and have crafted a prix fixe menu for a truly romantic evening. We’ll have several seating times and also will be serving vegetarian and pescatarian options available too.
For more information on our special Valentine’s Day dinner, with menu listing, and to book your seats in advance, head over to our special Valentine’s Day page.
Just a quick reminder that we will be closed this week so that the staff can get some much needed post-holiday rest and recharge. Some of them will be taking some much needed travel to expand their horizons, while others will just stay home to "Netflix and chill."
Also the restaurant will be closed so that Chef Andrew and his brother Alex can oversee a remodeling project on the second floor. Therefore, by the time their staff returns from r&r, they'll be walking into something brand spankin' new that both staff and customers will love and appreciate! Stay tuned with photos!
A quick note that we'll be back this coming weekend for the KCC Farmers Market on Saturday, January 30. We'll be posting the menu for this farmers market in the coming days.
Mahalo for making our 2015 an amazing and successful year and we promise to continue to bring our A-game when we come back from vacation!
Hey, tickets are going fast for the upcoming OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD dinner at Kualoa Ranch this Saturday at Kualoa Ranch with Chef Andrew and the Pig and the Lady team spearheading the menu for this sure to be amazing farm to table event. These are unique culinary events where dining takes place where the ingredients are sourced. Here’s a description of this roving event, which is held around the world:
Outstanding in the Field is a roving culinary adventure – literally a restaurant without walls. Since 1999 we have set the long table at farms or gardens, on mountain tops or in sea caves, on islands or at ranches. Occasionally the table is set indoors: a beautiful refurbished barn, a cool greenhouse or a stately museum. Wherever the location, the consistent theme of each dinner is to honor the people whose good work brings nourishment to the table.
Ingredients for the meal are almost all local (sometimes sourced within inches of your seat at the table!) and generally prepared by a celebrated chef of the region. After a tour of the site, we all settle in: farmers, producers, culinary artisans, and diners sharing the long table.
Tickets are going fast so book them now while you can!
Also, want to make a quick announcement that we will be taking a much needed break and taking time off next week (January 25 - 31). So why not swing by this week and come eat with us. This week, in particular, we’ve got some great menu items, including the following:
#MAMALENOODLE
CANH THUON — Similar to CANH CHUA, this multi-flavorful North Vietnamese noodle soup comprised of beef shank, ray ram (Vietnamese mints), tomato tamarind broth, and fresh rice noodles.
PHO GA KHO — Mama Le’s famous chicken pho, but this time, the soup will be on the side. The pho noodles will be lightly sautéed with a dark soy sauce and served with fresh chicken, mints, veggies, etc. This is similar to the HU TIEU MY THO.
#MAMALESOUP
COM HEN — Vietnamese-style ochazuke with baby clams
LOBSTER CHAO — Mama Le’s famous rice porridge with fresh lobster. This was a big hit when served at KCC this past Saturday!
#MAMALERICE
THIT KHO — Vietnamese style caramelized and braised pork shoulder with eggs. The ultimate Vietnamese comfort food!
As many know, we do sometimes get long queues at the farmers market (hey, it is a nice problem to have). Well, if you want to plan ahead, just email Alex at alex@thepigandthelady.com an hour before the start of each farmers market and we'll get your order prepped. Just email us what you want and approximately what time you'll pick it up and we'll have it ready for you!
Per usual, we are on our regular farmers market schedule — Wednesday, 1/20 at Blaisdell (4pm - 7pm) / Thursday, 1/21 at Kailua (5pm - 7:30pm) / Saturday, 1/23 at KCC (7:30am - 11am).
As always, our full menu is over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
We catered for the HAWAII FIVE-O Team on Monday and it was a lot of fun! Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park are regulars at the restaurant, and we've had the pleasure of hosting Alex O'Loughlin and Jorge Garcia in the past as well.
It’s a busy week for us, because the Sony Open is happening. We’ll be working at the Open this Thursday night, which is always an honor to serve out-of-towners and showcase what we do here in the culinary scene.
As for the farmers market, we’re sticking to our regular schedule:
Wednesday, January 13
Blaisdell 4pm - 7pm
Thursday, January 14
Kailua 5pm - 7:30pm
Saturday, January 16
KCC 7:30am - 11am
The Mama Le specials of the week are:
Mama’s Noodle Soup
BUN MANG VIT — poached duck, bamboo, vermicelli noodles, mint, banana blossom, ginger fish sauce
Mama’s Banh Mi
BO LUC LAC BANH MI - cubed ribeye steak, grilled with garlic and mama’s specialty marinade, waipoli butter lettuce, red onions in vinagrete
Mama’s Rice
TOM RANG THIT BA CHI — claypot shrimp and pork belly with stick rice
As always, the full menu and schedule is over at the Farmers Market Menu Page.
Last weekend at the KCC Farmers Market.
Happy New Year! Because of El Nino, 2016 has kicked off with some pretty cold weather here in Hawaii. Some of it is a welcome and unique change, especially with Mama Le’s hot noodle soups and specials for this week at the farmers market. Here’s what she has in store for this week’s menu:
BO KHO — Vietnamese beef stew, cooked with spices, star anise, stewed carrots, beef brisket and shank, tomatoes, served with fresh noodles
CLAYPOT CHICKEN — slow cooked chicken with pandan leaves
BO KHO FRENCH DIP — beef brisket, smashed tomatoes, carrots, sauteed sprouts, star anise beef au jus
We are also resuming our regular schedule:
Wednesday, Jan 6
Blaisdell, 4pm - 7pm
Thursday, Jan 7
Kailua, 5pm - 7:30pm
Saturday, Jan 9
KCC, 7:30am - 11am
Just FYI, we will be taking off the final week of January for a much needed break. That will be the week of January 25. We’ll send another reminder in our next blog. We'll also be back at Mililani Farmers Market in the near future as well.
In the meantime, you can check out the full menu over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
As 2015 comes to a close, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of our patrons and supporters for making this a successful one at The Pig & the Lady. We can’t believe this is only our second year in operation with the restaurant and over 4 years now with the farmers market. Things have changed so much but the farmers market has been the constant that hasn’t changed, which is great. We love building community and having a great time at the various markets we serve on a weekly basis.
We dipped our toes with our first Mililani Farmers Market yesterday and it was really great! We are going to come back this coming Sunday, and will maintain a regular schedule for the time being. Also, since Thursday is New Years Eve, Kailua Farmers Market will be closed this week, but we'll be back next week. In the meantime, here’s our farmers market schedule for this week:
Wednesday, 12/30
Blaisdell: 4pm - 7pm
Thursday, 12/31
Kailua: CLOSED
Saturday, 1/2
KCC: 7:30am - 11am
Sunday, 1/3
Mililani: 8am - 11am
In the meantime, here’s some menu highlights for this week:
#mamanoodle
BUN BO HUE with Porchetta — pork belly/porchetta, brisket, calamansi, satay,
banana blossom, rau ram, ong choi
#mama banh mi
BANH MI Porchetta — Specialty banh mi with slow-cooked porchetta
#mamarice
Caramelized catch of the day with sautéed ong choy
As always, you can check the full menu over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! As we come together to be with family and friends or head over to the mall for some last minute shopping, we celebrate the end of the year as 2015 comes to a close. It's so amazing how quickly this year has pass by.
A quick reminder that we will not be at Kailua Farmers market this Thursday, but we'll be appearing at our first Mililani Farmers market this Sunday! The market is located at Mililani High School. For more info and directions, visit the Hawaii Farm Bureau's website. Meanwhile, check out this week's schedule:
12/23 - Wednesday: Blaisdell, 4-7pm
12/24 - Kailua : CLOSED
12/26 - KCC: 7:30-11am
12/27 - Mililani: 8-11am
Happy Birthday, Oliver! Chef Andrew's son celebrates his first birthday this weekend!
On a personal note, this weekend is also little Oliver's first birthday! Congratulate Chef Andrew and his wife Teri if you see them at the restaurant. In the meantime, here's some menu highlights for the farmers market:
#mamanoodles
HU TIEU MY THO -- Mama Le's signature dry noodle dish with sliced barbecue pork, dried shrimp, noodles, crab tomato sauce, and broth on the side.
#mamarice
PORK & PEAS RAGOUT -- Mama Le's pork and peas stew, Viet/French style.
#mamabanhmi
BO LUC LAC -- grilled ribeye steak, garlic, marinated with black pepper, butter lettuce, red onions, vinaigrette
Per usual, you can view the entire menu over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
We are one week away from Christmas! If you have not booked your holiday party or dinner, we can be your venue! We can host office or family parties at the restaurant (or the private event space upstairs) and we can also cater your event too and bring it to any destination on Oahu! If you are interested, just e-mail our general manager at alex@thepigandthelady.com.
If you are looking for any last minute stocking stuffers, then consider ordering our Holiday Piggy Poop! Wait, did you read that correctly? Yep, you did!
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
A perfect stocking stuffer for the holidays! Place your pre-order in now! Pick up will start on Tuesday, December 15 at our Chinatown location. For more details, visit our Piggy Poop page.
For this week’s Farmers market, we’re back on our regular schedule:
Wednesday, December 16
BLAISDELL
4pm - 7pm
Thursday, December 17
KAILUA
5pm - 7:30pm
Friday, December 19
KCC
7:30am - 11am
For this week’s Mama Le specials, we have the following:
#mamanoodle
MI QUANG — Mì Quảng, is a Vietnamese noodle dish that originated from Quảng Nam Province in central Vietnam. It is a noodle soup that has rice noodles, turmeric, shrimp, chicken and sesame rice crackers
GRILLED PORK PHO — This is our signature pho broth, but with grilled pork as the main protein. This has been a hit over the past few weeks.
#mamabanhmi
SPICY MEATBALL — Ground pork meatballs in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. This all-time favorite is back this week.
#mamarice
SQUASH PORK & SHRIMP — Squash soup with clear broth, cooked with pieces of pork belly and boiled shrimp. Garnished with green onions and cilantro.
As always, you can view the entire menu over at the Farmers Market Menu page.
Quick reminder that this Wednesday at Blaisdell farmers market is the next Mama Le pop-up dinner, focusing on a unique Vietnamese cuisine that you don’t normally see in regular Vietnamese restaurant menus and it is also a communal experience with shared plates, and lots of interaction. This pop-up is Mama's take on Southern Vietnamese hotpot or LẨU VỊT NẤU CHAO.
Served as a hot pot with duck, taro, fermented soybean paste broth, ong choy, mustard cabbage, served over vermicelli noodles! Perfect for this cooler December weather! There will also be some appetizers, and of course, a dessert crafted by Rachel Murai and her PIA team.
As of the writing of this blog, the event is technically sold out but there may be one or two more seats that will open up. Seating is at 5pm sharp at the Blaisdell Farmers Market. If you’re interested, then send an email inquiry to alex@thepigandthelady.com.
Since we are in the holiday season, consider booking your holiday party with us! We host great office parties, friends and ohana parties, of all shapes and sizes! Our calendar this month is booking up quick, but we can definitely accommodate. To make an inquiry, also email our general manager, Alex, at alex@thepigandthelady.com.
For this week’s farmers market menu, here are the specials:
#MAMANOODLE
OXTAIL PHO — If we were to rank our pho, this would be the platinum level, with slow cooked oxtail pho, cooked and simmered in the same pho broth for hours. This is simply the best.
#MAMABANHMI
SAIGON BANH MI — This old favorite is back! Slow cooked char-siu pork belly, pickled veggies, carrots, cilantro and a poached egg in the middle!
#MAMARICE
VIETNAMESE PORK SHOULDER CURRY — Our Viet style curry is a favorite among many of our customers. For this week, we are adding chunks of succulent pork shoulder in it.
NAM CHAM CHICKEN WINGS — Mama Le is making these as an appetizer. Do you love our Laotian Chicken Wings? Well, think of the same, but with her signature nuoc mam (fish sauce) flavoring.
As always, the full menu is over at the Farmers Market Menu Page. Have a grew week, everyone!
The Pig & the Lady is joining Pacific Gateway Center/Lemongrass Cafe to do a series of pop-up fundraisers to support Nā Kūpuna Makamae, also known as the Kakaako Old Pumping Station!
A Resource and Training Center for Hawai‘i’s beloved seniors — NKM will provide innovative, quality services and programs dedicated to our seniors, their families and community that will empower, educate, enlighten and entertain. These programs will address the critical needs of seniors and their caregivers and improve the quality of life for all. Driven and led by kūpuna for kūpuna, NKM will be at the forefront of caring for and enabling Hawaii’s seniors.
The first in this fundraising culinary series is this Sunday, December 6, 2015. There are two seatings, 11am and 12:45pm. It's only $25.00 for a dynamic lunch featuring exotic and savory Burmese dishes with The Pig & The Lady's famous PHO GA as the main dish. As this is part of our challenge grant, every dollar earned will be doubled for NKM:
Check out the full menu: for this Sunday's fundraiser:
PHO GA
Poached chicken, chicken cracklins, chicken fat vinaigrette
MANDALAY FRITTERS
Made with healthy black beans, ginger and sweet glutinous flour
EGGPLANT SALAD
Seasoned eggplant, tofu, red onions, red chili and spices
NGA PYAW THEE KYAUK HNYIN HTOTE
Steamed banana sticky rice in banana leaves
PANDAN ICED TEA
Pandan leaves brewed in jasmine tea
Please spread the word to your family and friends! Date is approaching fast! Come and join us! Bring family and friends! Limited seating! When can you go to a fundraiser with such a meaningful purpose for only $25?
To book a reservation, go to the fundraiser's Eventbrite Page now.
What: Burma Culinary Series by Lemongrass Cafe + The Pig & the Lady
When: Sunday, December 6, 2 seatings: 11am + 12:45pm
Cost: $25 per person / Purchase tickets here
About the Pacific Gateway Center
The mission of Pacific Gateway Center (PGC) is to help immigrants, refugees, and low-income residents of Hawai‘i gain access to opportunities and services through the building of skills that lead to self-sufficiency. Inherent in our mission is a deep respect for the integrity of diverse cultures represented by our targeted population and the communities we serve.
PGC is driven by its organizational values of aloha, creativity, diversity, humor, integrity, mutual respect, teamwork and food (needed to sustain life and integral to social, economic, political and cultural frameworks locally and globally).
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! We had a quiet Thanksgiving lunch and dinner at both the Le and Fukuhara households and it was very fun and relaxing. We also had the pleasure to throw a surprise birthday this past Sunday for our fearless leader, Chef Andrew, and had it at Bills Sydney in Waikiki. It was a real drag to literally drag him out to Waikiki and make up some excuse for him to come along, and he kept throwing lots of obstacles in the way (“I have a meeting with the plumber” or “I have to get a haircut”) but it was worth it.
This week leading into December, we are back on our regular farmers market schedule. Since the weather permits such type of cuisine, we are going heavy on the noodle soups this week. Here’s this week’s highlights:
#MAMANoodles:
BUN MOC — Pork balls, Vietnamese ham, fresh cut noodles, clear beef broth
GRILLED PORK CHOP PHO & BRAISED SHORT RIBS PHO — Mama Le’s famous pho is the base for this week’s special proteins, grilled pork chop and braised short ribs.
#MAMARice:
SMOKED SPARE RIBS RAGOUT — Smoked spare ribs in Mama Le’s famous tomato based ragout (ragu)
#MAMABanhMi:
NEM NUONG BANH MI — Vietnamese grilled pork sausages & meatballs
In addition to the farmers market, we are also going to be at the Mililani Craft Fair this weekend! Check the graphic below for further details!
Finally, and just around the corner, we have Mama Le’s next farmers market pop-up scheduled for next week, December 9 at the Blaisdell farmers market. $45 per person, limit to 30 people only. It will be a four course meal and dinner starts promptly at 5pm.
As many of you know, Mama Le's pop-ups are fun, communal experiences with shared plates, and lots of interaction. This pop-up is Mama's take on Southern Vietnamese hotpot or LẨU VỊT NẤU CHAO. Duck is the main protein and the fermented soy bean broth is quite flavorful and packs a punch. Perfect for this cooler December weather! There will also be some appetizers, and of course, a dessert crafted by Rachel Murai and her PIA team. It's going to be a doozy for sure.
Here's the menu for Mama Le's next pop-up on December 9 at Blaisdell:
1st course
"CANH GA CHIEN NUOC MAM"
Fried Chicken wings mixed with Mama Le's Nuoc Mam fish sauce
2nd course
" GOI VIT QUAY"
Roasted Duck salad with banana blossom, cabbage salad, mint, shallots, nuoc mam cham dressing
3rd course
" LAU VIT NO CHAU"
Hot Pot style. Duck, Taro, fermented soy bean paste broth , ong choy, mustard cabbage, vermicelli noodles
4th course
" ICE CREAM & SORBET PARFAIT”
Sorbet by Rachel Murai
To make reservations, email alex@thepigandthelady.com.
Back to this week's farmers market, as always, you can check the full menu over at the Farmers Market Menu Page.