The announcement of The Pig and the Lady’s pending addition to the family, Piggy Smalls, came in May. At the time, there was promise of an all-day breakfast menu, pastries and light fare modeled after the original restaurant’s Vietnamese-rooted menu.

The Piggy Smalls that opened at Ward Centre has evolved to be so much more than chef Andrew Le, his family and crew imagined when they took on the project.

According to Le’s brother, general manager Alex Le, plans started expanding when they took a look at the space, formerly home to Kua Aina. With picture windows flooding the room with light and high ceilings, it didn’t look like a mere quick-bite or grab-and-go establishment. Also taking into account the number of hungry people slated to move into ritzy neighboring residential towers, they became inspired by the possibility of creating a true gathering spot for a sophisticated crowd looking for something new.

Rather than producing The Pig and the Lady Lite, they’ve forged a unique identity for the second of their brick-and-mortar sites. Though still true to its Vietnamese roots, Piggy Smalls goes international, drawing on flavor profiles from Morocco to Indonesia. The menu has a magical blend of exoticism that still feels vaguely and comfortably familiar.

In contrast to The Pig and the Lady’s dark brick interior, Piggy Smalls has a lighter, more minimalist demeanor, with white walls and light-colored tables. The main points of interest are a large mural created by Working Class Tattoo artist Steven Lam, gold-toned light fixtures and the words “It’s all good” spelled out in pink neon light over the bar.

Brandon Lee, sous chef at The Pig and the Lady, steps into a leading role on a menu that travels from the Americas to Asia, Europe, North Africa and more, sometimes all in one dish. A Moroccan-spiced twist on a Southeast Asian staple of green papaya salad ($12 small, $17 large) carries the refreshing addition of carrot puree, cumin and mint, and the crunch of toasted almonds.

A “First Things First” starter of scallion arepa marries the idea of a Venezuelan griddle cake with that of Korean pa jun or Chinese scallion pancakes to create bite-sized patties topped with a pungent, savory blend of anchovies and XO sauce. The party in your mouth delivered in this trio of small bites continues with the additional stacking of pickled charred corn, avocado crema and cilantro. It’s fun, a word that easily applies to much of the menu, which is fairly short and sweet, yet full of dishes you’ll want to try.

Two other must-trys also appear in this section. L.F.C. (four for $12) are Le’s addicting twice-fried chicken wings dressed with a “money” sauce of Thai flavors. Loaded Baked Potato Beignets (four for $8) are little bites of heaven. Split open the light-as-air beignets and fill them with fill them with the accompanying savory potato and cheddar mousseline.

Some familiar dishes off The Pig and the Lady’s menu include the popular salad of sprouting seeds ($12/$17) and Mama Le’s Northern Vietnamese-style beef and noodle pho bac ($15). Where the original restaurant has its signature P&L pho highlighted by roasted brisket, rare beef and stewed bone marrow, Piggy Smalls has its own signature of banh mi Pho-Strami ($16) featuring 12-hour brined, pho-spiced beef pastrami, Sriracha onions, pickled mustard seeds and an “awesome” sauce, served with pho broth.

This is a meat eater’s paradise, with one caveat. I’ve noted before that, perhaps more than any other chef in town, Le often introduces bitter notes, and that is the case with the mustard seeds here. For all the deliciousness otherwise presented, diners have proved willing to overlook this trait. When asked, a stranger told me he cut the bitterness by simply soaking the sandwich in the broth.

Vegetables are prominent on the menu, starting with the most local of fare, Hurricane-Style Creamed Corn ($10). I’m there simply with the mention of creme fraiche creamed corn. We already know furikake and kakimochi are great together, and popped sorghum adds to the crunch factor.

Roasted cauliflower ($10) tops a delicious spiced tomato sauce with yogurt, sweet curried golden raisins and a Middle Eastern thyme-and-oregano-heavy zaatar herb blend. My only quibble is with the rubbery texture of the cauliflower. This, too, should be crunchy.

Also playing to the vegetarian/vegan crowd is the Farmer’s Goulash ($17), the dumplings stuffed with a puree of potato and leeks that mimics the texture of goat cheese, served over a Hungarian-style stew of vegetables and sweet paprika.

Most of the dishes can be shared or ordered as individual entrees. Larger-portioned dishes are presented family style. These include Roasted Mary’s Chicken, a half chicken ($29) with preparation that changes weekly, a whole Grilled Branzino Amandine seared in brown butter with fish sauce ($31), and a Babi Guling Special ($32).

The latter is a Bali-inspired roast suckling pig dish, accompanied by green bean and coconut urap, pork chicharrones, blood sausage, fried garlic rice and chili sambal. The accompaniments can be tasted individually before mixing them all together. The pork itself was sour, which wasn’t my experience in Bali, where it seems understood that roast pork needs no enhancement beyond various sambals offered on the side. The blood sausage helped balance the sourness.

On opening week, Mary’s chicken made a trip to the Philippines, coated with marungay pesto and served with adobo mushrooms and onions, though those familiar with Filipino cuisine would not recognize the sour single-note adobo.

The best of this bunch is the branzino, or European sea bass. Who can resist brown butter? I also loved the turnips.

The other nod to the piggy name is the Taja­rin ($17), noodles tossed with small pieces of smoked suckling pig, grilled cabbage, caramelized onion, pickled jalapeno and, adding that bitter signature, grapefruit. The cabbage was the best part. The dish sums up the sometimes random quality of Le’s food. It’s not always perfect, but it’s always fun.

Where even the newest restaurants seem to offer the same old tried-and-true menu options, Le pushes boundaries. He has a unique vision and playful approach that keeps people coming back to see what’s next.

This will also be a great place to stop by before or after seeing a movie across the street for desserts by Gino Ojano. These include a light and pretty Calamansi Dream Soft Serve ($8) swirled with buttermilk ice cream, and divine Milk & Honey sponge cake ($8), soaked in four kinds of milk and sprinkled with honeycomb candy, local bee pollen and edible flowers, with a side of whipped Frangelico. This dessert alone will send you home with thoughts of when your next visit might be.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.