Piggy Smalls Closing Because of Staffing Shortage

Piggy Smalls, which will serve its last dishes this Sunday, is closing because of a pandemic-era problem plaguing many restaurants and industries: chronic staffing shortages. Chef-proprietor Andrew Le confirmed the reason in an email thanking employees and guests.

“With our collective efforts and shared love for hospitality, we created a culture of positivity and vibe our customers [can] feel,” Le wrote. “I’m forever grateful to you all and will never forget it. But now is the time to look towards our future.

“As a chef proprietor, my kuleana is to protect that energy you are willing to give. And by closing this door, we will open a new one at Pig and the Lady. By combining our teams, I can ensure we have enough support for everyone, thus creating balance and renewed energy. Though it was a hard decision for me to make, in my heart I knew it was the best choice for us.”

Photo: Lianne Rozzelle

So what exactly will happen? Le, who shared the email with us, said most of Piggy Smalls’ staff, including head chef Kristene Moon, will transfer to The Pig & the Lady in Chinatown. Moon’s pork-and-scallion Crispy Cheese Dumplings with their fried cheese curd skirts will “most definitely” be added to Pig & the Lady’s menu; Le says the Burmese Tea Salad and Black Truffle Ricotta Cavatelli “most likely” will survive as well. Smalls’ lineup of Vietnamese noodle soups—including rare-in-Hawai‘i bowls like cao lau, bun thai and bo ca ri ga chicken curry noodles—will move over to the lunch menu at Pig & the Lady.

SEE ALSO: Find 12 Vietnamese Noodle Soups on Piggy Smalls’ New Menu

Le and Moon will start working on a new brunch menu at currently brunch-less Pig & the Lady. While dinner at both places has favored proteins, pastas and vegetable sides, brunch has been where Pig and Smalls’ style of exuberant, Viet-inspired global cuisine features in sweet and savory late-morning staples like pancakes, waffles and quiche. New dishes, Le says, will start appearing in March.

The Le family’s flagship restaurant opened nearly 10 years ago after launching as a series of pop-up dinners and farmers market booths in 2011. The family spun off Piggy Smalls as a little brother eatery at Ward Village in 2016 and collaborated in the opening of The Pig & the Lady in Tokyo in 2019. Le, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and former sous chef at Chef Mavro, is one of Hawai‘i’s best known chefs, with multiple James Beard Award nominations.

SEE ALSO: Pig and the Lady: Not Just a Personal Addiction

“A great experience at a restaurant is the direct result of the transfer of energy imbued by the cooks, our farmers and co-producers, service staff, the creative designers, and our leadership. All this creates a complex ecosystem that’s precious and paramount to how we do things,” he wrote in his email to staff.

“A hui hou Piggy Smalls, you taught us so much and [we] are thankful for our time.”

Open Tuesday to Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1200 Ala Moana Blvd., (808) 777-3588, thepigandthelady.com/piggysmalls, @piggysmalls