Phil Gibson and Sally Hammond

Phil had always loved Singapore. When an opportunity arose for him to head up a newly acquired financial services group in Asia, he accepted his company’s offer to transition from his role as an adviser to a Royal Commission in the booming Middle East to the leafy surrounds of Southeast Asia. Singapore’s positive business environment and the opportunities unleashed by the emerging Tiger economies led him to establish, as an investment, a little group of restaurants that catered to the developing cosmopolitan market. The years slipped by. Then, about thirty years ago, Phil launched a small but popular little Italian restaurant in Holland Village,Singapore. Holland village was a trendy little international enclave. It was encircled by government high rise apartments, luxury homes and light industrial companies all glued together in the lush, wet tropical landscape of palm trees and scarlet bougainvillea. The area bubbled with Singapore’s easy mix of contrasting economic status and cultures.Happily the little restaurant was busy with all manner of locals, expatriates living in Singapore and visitors to the island nation.

The strategic location of the island coupled with a long standing history of friendship with the United States led to a collaboration between the two nations in areas of defense. Sally and her husband, an Air Force Colonel, had recently arrived to his new post as Base Commander of the joint US forces mission. The mission’s personnel were housed in a sprawling tropical military base, at the top of the island ,that had once belonged to Britain. It;s leafy avenues and Black and White colonial houses sited on spacious grounds had long since been freed of protective perimeters and opened to occupation as rental properties. The area hosted a smattering of civilian residents before the US mission was established and took occupation of the site, which resulted in a neighborhood population of locals, Aussies, New Zealanders, Europeans and Japanese in addition to the Americans. Typically Singapore!

Sally and Bob were “old Asia hands” by this time, having been posted to a small fishing village in Thailand (where Sally learned to sky dive), two assignments in South Korea and a lengthy stay at Hickam in Hawaii. Being new, they were eager to explore their host country and found their way (with their visiting adult daughter in tow) to Phil’s Italian restaurant.

It was a busy weekend night as waiters edged between diners in the humming and compact space. The details seem to blur but somehow a waiter spilled a full glass of red wine on Sally’s daughters brand new Thai silk jacket and caused an awful mess. Eager to make amends and embarrassed, the restaurant promised to do what ever was necessary to make up for the mistake, including paying for a new jacket. Ever gracious, Sally suggested that the garment be dry cleaned first and if the stain was removed the restaurant had only to pay the cleaning bill!

Well, it worked! Phil decided to hand deliver the check for cleaning along with his personal apology for the incident, only to discover that Bob and Sally were his new next door neighbors! Kismet!

Over the next thirty years Sally and Phil have conspired on many projects.He painted her dining room strawberry red. She masterminded numerous corporate events for his event planning company, Bob wallpapered the foyer in one of the restaurants while Sally and a friend consulted on gilding the ceiling of another.Always taking advantage of our life experiences and using materials at hand, a creative necessity in developing nations, Sally and Phil created wonderful dining environments for clients, friends and one another’s enjoyment.Over time friendships and families became interwoven, trips were taken and there was lots of cooking! By the time Sally devised, for a dinner party, little dough airplanes making a water landing in bowls of soup, a solid and lasting friendship had been established.

Ultimately both Sally and Phil ended up living on Hawaii’s Big Island and proceeded to do what came naturally...entertain. Phil continued with events like the Taste of Hawaii and the Hamakua Music Festival and Sally buffed Hawaii’s elegant tropical home entertaining scene with her stunning table settings . At a Chinese New Year weekend with friends at Phil’s little cottage on the slopes of Mauna Kea volcano, the idea of a book was born. Using antecdotal inspiration, we conspired, over homemade “Spring Rolls” to pen a book that would show other people what fun it could be to bind people together at table, using what was at hand.

“Frangipani and Leaky Boats, Bringing Your Life to the Table” is that book. And now that we have come so far we can’t quit and are working on two more books .With “ Travel by Taste” and “The Wine Road” we continue to share the joys of the table and the privilege of a great friendship. Stay tuned!