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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. 

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:

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. 

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! 

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. 

SEPTEMBER:

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. 

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:

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!

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. 

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. 

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)!

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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! 

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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

Child not included. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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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)

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. 

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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. 

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!" 

"Chúc mừng sinh nhật, Alex!" 

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Farmers Market Specials (11/2 - 5)

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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!

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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. 

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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!

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. 

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PIGGY SMALLS opens this Friday, 10/14 + Farmers Market Specials (10/12 - 15)

It's finally happening.... Piggy Smalls will be open for business starting this Friday, October 14 at Ward Centers! The new location will be open everyday from 11am - 10pm. Follow the new restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

There will be a new menu including a slow roll out of brunch on weekends and dishes unique to Smalls and not served at the main restaurant in Chinatown. We are all very excited to have this new eatery opening this Friday and building the community out in Kakaako. It's going to be a blast!

More updates to come, but swing by this Friday, as we will be officially open for business. In the meantime, check out this mural that will be the main wall at Piggy Smalls, created by Matt Tapia and Steven Lam (and it's pretty awesome):

Meanwhile, we will still have our regular farmers market schedule this week. Below are Mama Le's specials of the week:

#mamaspecial
GRILLED PORK JOWL PHO

#mamarice
GRILLED PORK CHOP WITH EGG LOAF
GRILLED PANDAN CHICKEN

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

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Check out PIGGY SMALLS sneak peek at Blaisdell Farmers Market this Wednesday

We are excited about this week’s farmers market schedule. For this Wednesday’s Blaisdell Farmers Market, our new eatery, PIGGY SMALLS, will take over with a sneak peek of some items will served at the new restaurant, which is slated to open in mid-October. Chef Brandon and his team, which includes sous chef Jade and award winning pastry chef Gino, will be there to serve their delectable selections at Blaisdell only. We will be serving Moroccan Papaya Salad and Babi Gulig. Plus, more surprises to come! This is a great opportunity to get a sneak peek of Piggy Smalls!

Another update is that we will not be at Mililani this Sunday, but will be there the following week. Finally, we just want to give a shout out to the Hale Aina Awards presented by Honolulu Magazine. It was an amazing time at the awards dinner and are so fortunate and honored to receive all these accolades. We also want to give a shout out to all of our brothers and sisters in the restaurant industry for working extra hard in making our food scene one of the most excited destinations in the world. 

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

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Farmers Market Specials (9/21 - 25) + Hale Aina Awards & Rice Fest this Sunday

Happy Birthday, Mama Le! We had celebrated her birthday at Izakaya Torae Torae and had a blast. Mahalo to Chef Hide for taking care of us! 

Also we are excited about two big events that we will be participating in this weekend. First off, is the eagerly anticipated Hale Aina Awards presented by Honolulu Magazine. We are vying for some awards (and crossing our fingers) but more importantly, we will be serving food there as well, under the aegis of Piggy Smalls! We will be previewing some of the new items on the menu! We are also excited to be a part of Rice Fest at Ward Centre. Both events are happening this Sunday, September 25!

In the meantime, we will be on our regular farmers market schedule, including Mililani on Sunday as well. Here are the specials of the week:

#MamaNoodles
BU BO HUE — pork belly, brisket, calamansi, satay, banana blossom, rau ram, and ong choy, vermicelli noodles

#MamaBanhMi
PORCHETTA BANH MI — crispy pork belly, house sambal, shoyu pickled cucumbers, smoked onion w/ Hue-style beef broth

As always, you can view the entire schedule and menu over at the Farmers Market page.

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Farmers Market Specials (9/14 - 17)

Sous chef Jade inside the work-in-progress Piggy Smalls space at Ward Village. 

Sous chef Jade inside the work-in-progress Piggy Smalls space at Ward Village. 

Piggy Smalls is coming together! We are aiming for an October opening, but we still have a lot to do. But, expect an official word from us very soon. Meanwhile, check out this Pacific Business News announcement about our upcoming second location to be at Ward Village. 

In the meantime, we’re excited about two events next week — the Hale Aina Awards from Honolulu Magazine, where we hope to be considered again as one of the top restaurants on Oahu (well, it’s all voted by the general public so we hope we did good with you all this past year) and also Rice Fest, which takes place on September 25 in front of Ward Centre! More details to come next week. 

As for farmers markets, we are sticking with our regular schedule. Here’s the Mama Le specials for the week:

#MamaNoodles
BUN MANG VIT — poached duck leg, shiitake, bamboo shoots, mint, rau ram, vermicelli noodles

SHORT RIBS PHO — mama le’s famous pho with grilled short ribs as main protein

#MamaBanhMi
BO LUC LAC —  rib eye banh mi, waipoli butter lettuce, red onions, basalmic vinaigrette

#MamaRice
GRILLED PANDAN CHICKEN — Mama Le's famous BBQ chicken in her famous homemade marinade

GRILLED LEMONGRASS CHICKEN — kaffir line, Pandan leaves, lemongrass, coconut juice

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

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Farmers Market Specials (9/7 - 11)

Looks like we missed two bullets this past weekend with both hurricanes pretty much veering off course and away from the archipelago we call our beautiful state of Hawaii. But, it’s always good to be prepared and civil defense and the Red Cross in particular came prepared. We were fortunate to donate food to the many Red Cross volunteers this past weekend, and we are happy that the crises were averted. We hope the many volunteers had a delicious banh mi sandwich though!

Although the KCC Farmers Market was cancelled this past Saturday, we still ventured to the leeward side and popped up at the Mililani Farmers Market on Sunday and it was a huge success. We were so surprised a the turnout, so we are thinking of making this a semi-regular stop on our farmers market schedule. For now, we will be serving at Mililani Farmers Market on the 1st Sunday of every month, but we will be there again this Sunday, September 11! 

In the meantime, we are prepping for our second brick-and-mortar location, Piggy Smalls. We are very excited to move into this new chapter in the Pig & the Lady family legacy, and we can’t wait to show you what we have in store. If you want to follow our progress, then follow us on Instagram.

Here’s this week’s farmers market specials: 

#MamaNoodle
MI BO KHO —  braised beef shank stew in Vietnamese style lemongrass, carrots, leeks, tomato, herbs, egg noodles

#MamaBanhMi
MINUTE CHICKEN — lemon grass chicken curry banh mi 

#MamaRice
GRILLED PANDAN CHICKEN — Mama Le’s famous BBQ chicken in her famous home recipe marinade 

We will be at our regular stops this week (Blaisdell on Wednesday, Kailua on Thursday, KCC on Saturday). For the full schedule and menu, head over to the Farmers Market Page. 

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Farmers Market Specials (9/1 - 4) No Blaisdell this Week, Adding Sunday Mililani Farmers Market

Chef Andrew and his brother Alex head home tomorrow after a successful Hawaiian Airlines sponsored event at EAT DRINK SF this past weekend. Andrew did a live food demo and took in some meeting with some Bay Area tastemakers and companies on some future collaborations, both in Hawaii and San Francisco. Oh, and of course, they ate their way through town. Check out the gallery below of their SF adventure!

It was also the boys first time checking out the first class menu on Hawaiian Airlines, which is Chef Andrew's designed menu! Here are some photos from their flight. 

The farmers market schedule will be different this week. First off, no Blaisdell this Wednesday, because of President Obama’s visit. But, we will be at the Mililani Farmers Market this Sunday, Sept 4, as well as Kailua on Sept 1 and KCC on Sept 3. 

So, here’s how it is going to look this week: 

Thursday, Sept 1
Kailua — 5pm - 7:30pm

Saturday, Sept 3
KCC — 7:30am - 11am

Sunday, Sept 4
Mililani — 8am - 11am
(At Mililani High School)

Here are the farmers market specials of the week:

#MamaNoodles
PHO SOT VANG — beef shank braised in red wine, pickled chili, aromatic spices, fried shallot, green onion & cilantro

HU TIEU MI KHO — pork loin, kahuku shrimp, quail egg, dried shrimp, fresh cut noodles, crab fat tomato sauce

#MamaBanhMi
BANH MI CHA CA — vietnamese fried fish cake with a tamarind au jus, french dip style

GRILLED PORK BELLY — grilled pork belly, cabbage, shiso, mint, house pickles

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

#OffTheGrill
MAMA LE’s BBQ CHICKEN
GRILLED PORK JOWL

As always, you can view the full menu over at the Farmers Market Menu Page. 

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Farmers Market Specials (8/24 - 27) + Chef Andrew at Eat Drink SF this weekend

First off, we are giving back to the troops! Actually, we are doing this under the generous contribution of a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. Tomorrow, we are going to be serving 450 Pho French Dip Banh Mi sandwiches at Kaneohe Bay Marine Corp Base to marines and sailors on a first-come, first-serve basis from 11am - 12:30pm. 

In other news, Chef Andrew will be heading to San Francisco this weekend in San Francisco to be a part of Eat Drink SF, a celebration of food and the Bay Area culinary scene. Andrew will be representing THE PIG & THE LADY and will be there as Hawaiian Airlines’s featured chef! Andrew will be doing a live demo on Saturday night, August 27! 

This past weekend, we hosted another movie-inspired dinner with our second collaboration with Hawaii Theatre Center. They presented the Screen Cuisine Film Festival, presenting food themed films and partnering with local eateries to pair up with. We mounted a special dinner before the film CHOCOLAT, which was obviously inspired by the movie. 

Here are some highlights: 

 

 You can check out the rest of the photos over at our Facebook page. Mahalo to Orlando Benedicto Photography for covering the event. 

As for the farmers market, we are on our regular schedule this week. Here are the Mama Le specials: 

#MamaNoodles
VIT NO CHAU — duck, taro, fermented soy bean paste broth , ong choy, mustard cabbage, vermicelli noodles

GRILLED SHORT RIBS PHO — Mama Le’s famous pho is the base for this week’s GRILLED short ribs. 

#MamaBanhMi
CHA CA BANH MI — fried fish cake with a tamarind au jus, french dip style

GRILLED PORK BELLY — grilled pork belly, cabbage, shiso, mint, house pickles

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

#OffTheGrill
MAMA LE’s BBQ CHICKEN
HAMACHI KAMA
GRILLED PORK JOWL

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

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SCREEN CUISINE, Saturday, August 20: Join us for a Romantic Dinner, Movie & Dessert w/ The Pig & the Lady, Hawaii Theatre & Cake Envy inspired by the film CHOCOLAT

We had such a fabulous time with our collaboration with the Hawaii Theatre Center and Art + Flea with the SPIRITED AWAY Miyazaki dinner and a movie event that we are doing it again! 

In partnership with Hawaii Theatre Center and Cake Envy, we are joining forces again to celebrate food and cinema! SCREEN CUISINE is a food-inspired film festival at the historic Hawaii Theatre, where they are screening classic films that revolve around food and happens this weekend (August 19 - 21). 

We have the great honor of crafting a unique prix fixe dinner inspired by the Academy award nominated film CHOCOLAT starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. Join us for a dinner at The Pig & the Lady, prior to the screening of the film at the Hawaii Theatre. Then, once the film is done, head over to Cake Envy for dessert! This is the ultimate dinner and a movie and a perfect date night this Saturday! 

Here’s all the details for this unique and romantic night out, perfect to take that special someone out for a dinner, movie and dessert, all inspired by the film CHOCOLAT: 

When:  Saturday, August 20, 5pm - 7:30pm

Where: Dinner starts at 5pm at The Pig & The Lady. The movie starts at 8pm at Hawaii Theatre. Post-film dessert at Cake Envy. 

Cost: $75 (dinner + movie + after movie dessert at Cake Envy)
$55 (dinner only)

How: call us at (808) 585-8255 for reservations or email us at reservations@thepigandthelady.com
A cancellation fee will be applied if made within 48 hours of the event.

MENU

WELCOME TO LA CELESTE PRALINE
foie gras bon bons, caviar & white chocolate toast, chicken cracklings & sauce picada, ahi sashimi & chocolate miso on shiso leaf

THE PEOPLE OF GOD VS. MADMOISELLE VIANNE
green apple, white chocolate + pommes mousseline, black truffles, preserved lemon

A BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH THE WITCH OF LANQUENET & A BAND OF GYPSIES
roasted quail, bulgur wheat, sunchokes, pickled cherries, chocolate au poivre

FORGIVE ME JESUS, FOR I HAVE EATEN ALL YOUR CHOCOLATE...
flambé of chocolate, cacao scented smoke, flavors of s’mores

CHOCOLAT is an Academy Award nominated romantic comedy-drama, and tells the story of a young mother, played by Juliette Binoche, who arrives at the fictional, repressed French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes with her six-year-old daughter and opens La Chocolaterie Maya, a small chocolaterie.  The village mayor, who disapproves of her presence, becomes her nemesis. But her chocolate quickly begins to change the lives of the townspeople around her, and her shop becomes the locus for villagers and outsiders, each with their own story to tell. Directed by Lasse Hallström and adapted for the screen by writer Robert Nelson Jacobs.

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Farmers Market Specials (8/10 - 13) + Events this Weekend

@ActionBronson and his crew and our crew after filming a segment for the new season of Viceland's F_*CK, THAT'S DELICIOUS, which premieres in September!

@ActionBronson and his crew and our crew after filming a segment for the new season of Viceland's F_*CK, THAT'S DELICIOUS, which premieres in September!

It’s a super busy week for us as we are catering several events around town. We are doing triple duty this Saturday! First off, we are participating at 18th annual Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Dinner and Fundraiser on Saturday, August 13.

Secondly, we will be supporting our LGBTQ film-loving brothers and sisters at the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival Red Carpet Event at the Honolulu Academy of Art’s Luce Pavilion. It’s always a fun affair, and we’re always honored to be a part of this event annually.  

Thirdly, we are also participating in a family fun day and culinary event called Taste of Chinatown, which also happens this Saturday, from 10:30am - 4:30pm. Sample tastings from the many new area chefs, browse artisan wares, engage in various keiki activities and take advantage of special offers available only on this day.  Or just relax and enjoy cultural demonstrations and entertainment in a park setting.

Back to farmers markets, we are on our regular schedule this week. Here’s the Mama Le specials:

#MamaNoodle
MI VIT TIEM — marinated duck leg with choi sum, shiitake, bamboo shoots, egg noodles

BUN BO NAM BO — marinated stir fried beef, vegetables, fried onion, roasted peanuts, bean sprouts, vermicelli noodles

#MamaBanhMi
BO XAO — marinated strips of beef, grilled onions, garlic, waipoli butter lettuce

GRILLED PORK BELLY — grilled pork belly, cabbage, shiso, mint, house pickles

#MamaRice
MAMA LE GRILLED CHICKEN — grilled bbq chicken marinated in mama le’s special marinade with pandan rice, pickled vegetables

Per usual, you can view the schedule and the full menu over at the Farmers Market page. 

Finally, we also want to highlight the upcoming season of Action Bronson’s new season of F—*CK, THAT’S DELICIOUS on Viceland. The Pig & and the Lady and Chef Andrew are featured in a future episode, which you can see in the latest trailer for the new season!

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