IN PERFECT TANDEM

In their new restaurant Iai, Bruce Ricketts and Jae Pickrell showcase their flair for their respective crafts individually and collectively, exhibiting their power and influence as a couple

- Angelo Comsti.

Many people know how consumed chef Bruce Ricketts is with his craft. Once, he obsessed over eels so much, wanting to master how to properly prep and cook them, that he butchered hundreds of the ray-finned fish long after midnight until he finally got his groove in taming the beast.

It is the same intensity and passion that we find in his wife, Jae Pickrell, when it comes to everything Japanese. This affinity became evident when they launched their latest restaurant Iai, a dinner-only sushi omakase and kappo at the ground floor of The Montane in Bonifacio Global City. She credits her obsession to her Japanese stepfather who, at an early age, exposed her to Japan’s rich history, culture and cuisine.

“I grew up eating sushi and sashimi and enjoying Japanese produce from a very young age. I fondly remember eating cottony yet succulent Japanese peaches from these padded boxes of six and the densely packed, candy-sweet Kyoho grapes that far outshone any we could get from local groceries. My dad would bring back stationery and school supplies from Tokyu Hands and Itoya, and I’d eat nori in grade school—I was even teased for it and called a paper eater. I grew up familiar with Japanese customs and traditions as they were part of my upbringing.”

She is especially curious about tableware, not only because of its functionality but also its tradition. Shippo yaki, the art of Japanese tableware, is believed to have originated in the 17th century during the Edo period when the country was undergoing a cultural resurgence. Consequently, pottery and porcelain were considered of great value.