There's a new food trend in town, and it's called Pop-Up Eateries. To read more about what pop-up eateries are, read this article
from the NY Times. The basic concept is this: a chef will find a
kitchen that is under-used, say for example, a restaurant that only
opens for breakfast and/or lunch. The chef will then transform this
restaurant into a whole different concept once the sun goes down. The
food will be nothing like the restaurant that operates in the same place
during the day.
One of Hawaii's first pop-up restaurants is called The Pig & The Lady. The chef is Chef Andrew Le, formerly of Chef Mavro,
which is undisputedly one of the best restaurants in the state. It
just so happens that I happen to be good friends with the Chef's brother
Alex, and Alex invited us to the soft opening of The Pig and the Lady.
The instructions were simple - show up at Hank's Haute Dog at 7:30pm,
ready to eat. Hank's Haute Dogs? Are we going to be eating hot dogs
all night?
We
arrive at Hank's Haute Dogs on Coral Street at 7:15. The place does
not resemble what it looks like during normal business hours at all.
They hung 4 large lanterns out front, and on the inside, where there is
normally just open space, they squeezed in two rectangular tables with
black table clothes, silverware, and cloth napkins.
Here are the courses for the evening:
Nairagi Sashimi: asian pear, water lily herb, kaffir lime
Maitake Mushroom: jicama, lotus root, rice croquettes
Roast Pork: betelnut leaves, watermelon, ginger nvoc mam
Pho: handcut noodles, brisket, tendon
Toast: lychee, coconut pandan curd, thai basil
Everything
was delicious and we were all really stuffed by the end of the 5-course
dinner. But wait, they also made Vietnamese style coffee for us.
Because
of the limited space available, seating is by reservation only. Dinner
is service on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The menu
will be changing every couple of weeks, so what you see here may not be
what you'll end up getting down the road.
Follow them on Twitter @pigandthelady.
