Leigh was born and raised in Honolulu, graduating from Kalani High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration — Travel Industry Management. Ironically, it was Chef Wong’s father, Hank Wong, who introduced her to a career path in the hospitality industry that would later serve as the roots to learning the ”Wong Way”. Pops hired Leigh as a hostess at the Veranda Restaurant at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. Those were the days the pine boats (pineapple halves filled with fruit salad topped with a scoop of refreshing fruit sorbet), live Hawaiian entertainment in the lounges and Island Holiday tour guides escorting groups of tourists to Waikiki. Her most vivid memory of being a hostess was packing the restaurant with over 300 dinner covers nightly for the spaghetti and ribs specials.
Since then, Leigh has been in the industry for a number of years, primarily working in convention services, and sales and marketing in hotels like The Waiohai Resort, The Halekulani, and later, Prince Resorts Hawaii. She took a brief hiatus of five years to raise her son. She returned to work for Chef Gary Strehl at the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki, catching the new wave of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement.
Her world changed to that of food dictionaries, guest chef appearances, menus and recipes – one after another. But it was Alan Wong who immersed her in the world of “foodies”, joining The Pineapple Room just two days prior to the grand opening in September 1999. Leigh helped opened the Hawaii Regional Cuisine Marketplace a month later and eventually became the Operations Manager for the two entities at Liberty House (Macy’s) at Ala Moana.
“People always teased me that I can’t cook, and didn’t see me as an operations person. I’m still not the best cook, nor have I learned everything there is to know about food and beverage, or business. But the lessons I’ve learned and lived, working in the operation, have taught me so much personally and professionally. Like any other industry, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist or born with talent, what you need is ‘heart’ and a passion to do what you enjoy.”
