The Pig & The Lady: The Road Back To Kaimukī

Travel brings us the joy of wonder and a fresh perspective. A great restaurant can do the same.

On Oct. 15, acclaimed Honolulu restaurant The Pig & The Lady softly opened its new flagship location at Civil Beat Plaza on Waiʻalae Avenue in Kaimuki. The move from Chinatown marks a full-circle moment for the world-renowned restaurant’s, as the Le family returns to the neighborhood where their journey began. Reservation books are already filling for the highly anticipated grand opening this Tuesday, Oct. 21.

“What you expected in Chinatown is what you can expect from us now in Kaimukī,” chef and co-owner Andrew Le said. “I’m sure over time, organically, we’re going to start to get influences from the Kaimukī community … but I’m confident that the brand we built and the food we make is something that is going to be impactful in this type of neighborhood. So we’re not going to back down from that.”

Bánh ít ram chay. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

Hanging above a row of booths are three prints from local artist Lauren Trangmar, telling the story of The Pig & The Lady. The first features a bowl of phở adorned with a tiger–representing Le’s mother’s Chinese zodiac sign. A crane carrying a baby bundle flies toward the noodles, symbolizing the Le family’s arrival in Hawaiʻi in 1975.

“My mom was nine months pregnant with my oldest brother escaping Vietnam,” Le said. “On our familyʻs way to a refugee camp in Arkansas they landed in Hawaiʻi to refuel and her water broke. She had to go to the hospital and the plane left. Thatʻs how we ended up here.”

The second print captures the family’s entrepreneurial spirit, from Le’s father’s Kaimukī hobby shop, Toys N Joys—which opened in 1982 when Le was born—to the newest iteration of The Pig & The Lady, now located just one block away. The third print is an ode to Papa Le (Raymond Le), who passed away before he could witness the family’s return to the old neighborhood.

1/2 J. Ludovico Farm Chicken. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

Le, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York and earned his cooking chops in fine dining kitchens such as Rich Table in San Francisco and as a sous chef at Chef Mavro in Honolulu, originally launched his restaurant as a pop-up in Kakaʻako. When it closed, he brought the rest of his family into the fold to cook his mother Loan Le’s Vietnamese family recipes at the farmers market. The farmers market stand fizzled at first, which sent Le back to the continent in search of himself.

While visiting Vietnam, his mother suffered a stroke. The whole family met in Ho Chi Minh City to help nurse her back to health. Back in Honolulu, Le said his mom grew depressed, daunted by rehabilitation. Remembering her joy at the markets, Le encouraged her to start cooking with him again in the hopes of reigniting her spirit. 

Le (“The Pig,” his zodiac sign) and his mom (“The Lady”) revived their farmers market stand, cooking her soul-warming phở and crusty-yet-squishy bánh mi sandwiches packed with slow-cooked meats and tangy vegetables.

“The farmers market was the road to healing for her,” Le said in a 2020 interview.

“Canh Bí Đỏ” Epaulettes. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

The Le family opened their first brick-and-mortar location on North King Street in 2013, shortly after local restaurateurs Jesse Cruz and Dusty Grable opened the wildly successful Lucky Belly one block away on Smith Street. These restaurants enlivened Chinatown, ushering in a new wave of restaurants and turning it into the culinary destination it is today. But it was The Pig & The Lady that became an international sensation. The family went on to open Piggy Smalls (now closed) in Kakaʻako in 2016 and The Pig & The Lady Tokyo in 2019. 

Opposite Trangmar’s artwork, a floor-to-ceiling tiger mural—created by Kaimukī tattoo artist Steven Lam and muralist Jeff Gress—pays homage to Mama Le.

“Every zodiac has an ally and an enemy,” Le explained. ”It just so happens that I’m the Year of the Pig, and my ally is the Tiger. So in that sense, it’s meant to be, you know, Pig & The lady.”

Chef and co-owner of The Pig & The Lady Andrew Le. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

A six-time James Beard Award nominee, Le continues to redefine Vietnamese cuisine while honoring his roots and incorporating global influences. Signature dishes like the LE Fried Chicken Wings—coated in ground peanuts, pickled shallots and a sticky makrut lime-spiked glaze—remain on the menu, along with multiple variations of phở and bánh mì. The new location also introduces fresh dishes.

Two standout appetizers are vegan. First, a pan-seared mochi dumpling called bánh ít ram, filled with mung bean, taro and shiitake, is crunchy on the bottom and soft and chewy on top, served in tangy nước chấm (Vietnamese dipping sauce) and topped with fried shallots and scallions.

The second uses spent coffee from the restaurant’s Vietnamese iced coffee. Le dries the grounds and packs them around MAʻO Organic Farms beets, which roast for five hours. The beets are tossed in a coffee-cranberry-sherry vinaigrette and served with smoked eggplant purée, dukkah, cacao nibs and fresh mint.

Viet Coffee Roasted Beets. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

“There’s always a yin and yang going on,” Le explained of his dishes. “Something sweet, something sour, something salty, something spicy, something hot, something cold.”

Entrées offer equal excitement. Highlights include the Washugyu steak with lemongrass-anchovy chili sa tế (a pungent Vietnamese chili paste) and beef jus infused with Chinese Chiu Chow olives; koji-marinated J. Ludovico Farm chicken with chanh muối kosho (a fusion of Vietnamese preserved lime and Japanese citurs-chili paste), caramelized cipollini and croutons soaked in drippings; and the “Canh Bí Đỏ ” Epaulettes—plate-sized ravioli filled with black truffle pork sausage and kabocha squash. On the side, order Bắp Cải Luộc: charred cabbage topped with eggy nước chấm (think deconstructed deviled egg), scallion oil and fried shallot–a riff on a dish his mother always made at home.

Washugyu Steak. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

Save room for dessert. The current soft serve swirl (front) is avocado-matcha custard and strawberry guava sorbet, coated in crushed feuilletine (think Frosted Flakes) wafer and salted condensed milk. Another must-try is the Dark Chocolate Crémeux (back). Photo by Sarah Burchard.

What is the secret sauce that keeps The Pig & The Lady top of mind for locals and visitors alike? Certainly, its the bold, innovative riffs on classic Vietnamese food. But it’s also the staffʻs infectious sense of humor – the restaurantʻs Instagram page reflects the familyʻs lifelong commitment to joy, the storytelling, the education in Vietnamese culture and the pure delight of biting into something delicious when you had no idea what to expect. Regulars have their go-to dishes. The chefs can’t stop experimenting. The team is active in the community—at farmers markets, food events and more.

Over the years, The Pig & The Lady has become as synonymous with Honolulu as Waikīkī. No matter where it moves, we will follow.

“I think we all want to get back to work,” Le said the night before reopening. “I feel that we’re past the hardest part and now it’s the fun part. Running the restaurant. This is what we live for.”

Chef de Cuisine Kristene Moon (left) with cook Gabriel Maldonado (right). Moon has been integral to the growth of The Pig & The Lady. She has worked with the Le family since 2012. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

The Pig & The Lady, open Wednesday through Sunday 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m for lunch and Tuesday through Saturday 5-9:30 p.m. for dinner, brunch coming soon, 3650 Waiʻalae Ave, Kaimukī, Oʻahu, validation is available for the parking garage onsite. Reservations on Open Table