Bruce Ricketts' Iai: A Taste Of Craftsmanship And Connection

In the newly-opened Iai by acclaimed chef Bruce Ricketts, detailed craftsmanship and meaningful interactions make for an unforgettable dining experience. 

As the old saying goes, God is in the details: whatever you do, let it be done thoroughly, because paying attention to every aspect can make a world of a difference. Iai, the newest dining concept of Chef Bruce Ricketts, is a testament to this idea. 

The entrance to Iai
The entrance to Iai

Even before opening its doors to diners for their 6:00 P.M. service, Iai is bustling and alive, an assemblage of intricate moving parts like clockwork. Staff ensure the tables are set to exacting standards, while the kitchen team is already hard at work preparing the ingredients for the evening. At the heart of it all is Bruce, as well as his wife and business partner Jae Pickrell, both of them roving the space with steady gazes and hands, the conductors of their culinary orchestra. 

Located at the ground floor of The Montane in Bonifacio Global City (just across Grand Hyatt Manila), Iai is both a fresh chapter and the culmination of Bruce’s past projects, including Mecha Uma and Sensei Sushi.  Its name comes from the Japanese martial art “iaido” (a nod to the chef’s roots as a martial artist), which is all about awareness, instinct, and responsiveness—an ethos guests will certainly find in the highly-anticipated restaurant. 

READ ALSO: Trio of Tastes: A Six Hands Dinner Crafted With Passion And Precision

Chef’s Choice

Iai offers omakase dining, which roughly translates to “I leave it up to you” in Japanese. Through omakase, diners can indulge in whatever the chef wants to serve them at a particular time. As such, the restaurant has an ever-changing menu that will depend on Chef Bruce’s ideas and seasonal ingredients. Diving deeper into its offerings, Iai has two forms of omakase: the kappo omakase and sushi omakase

The chef's counter at Iai
The chef’s counter at Iai

“The restaurant itself follows the idea or concept of the kappo experience. Traditionally, ‘kappo’ refers to a chef’s counter, where you sit behind it and you’re in close proximity with the chef who’s carefully preparing the ingredients; you see the ingredients made from start to finish,” Bruce explains. 

He continues: “In Mecha Uma, I always followed that concept, because I found a lot of comfort in that kind of service. Nine years later, we continue that here at Iai.”

The kappo experience consists of a shorter, five-course menu without sushi. It features snacks, an appetizer, fish, meat, a donabe or claypot rice course, and dessert. 

Chef Bruce cutting slabs of fresh tuna before the evening's service
Chef Bruce cutting slabs of fresh tuna before the evening’s service

“So this menu is something that you can enjoy at a table if you don’t want to feel the formality of being at the counter and interacting with the chef,” Bruce adds. “This is something that you can do on an easy and casual day with friends.”

On the other hand, the sushi omakase gives guests front row seats at the chef’s counter or private dining room, where they get to interact with Bruce and enjoy a meal consisting of six to eight otsumami (appetizers), a meat course, and dessert, but predominantly sushi (with around five to seven pieces). 

“In the counter is where you can experience the nigiri made piece by piece, and then we serve it on a geta, which is the ceramic that we put sushi down on,” the chef elaborates. The geta derives its name from the traditional Japanese footwear made from wood, due to its platform-like qualities. In many high-end sushi restaurants, chefs typically place it on the counters, using it as a stage for the sushi they make. 

Highlighting Quality Ingredients 

With the food that Bruce creates, there’s no room for smoke and mirrors. The quality and flavor of the ingredients must speak for themselves, even without his meticulous techniques, which is why the chef is very careful when it comes to choosing his suppliers. 

A recent trip to Basilan (a province in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) opened Bruce’s eyes to the untapped potential of seafood from the region, inspiring him to use them more in his latest venture. 

Tuna that Chef Bruce prepared
Tuna that Chef Bruce prepared

“We work very closely with a friend who’s based in Mindanao. She was the one who introduced us to Basilan, and she has worked very closely with the region because she’s been in the industry, distributing fish and being a fish supplier for her family, for around a few decades,” Bruce states. “I found a lot of common fishes in the Philippines that you can see in different regions, but because Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Sulu are not as commercial, the fishing areas are very healthy—and it reflects when you eat and taste the fish.”

Bruce and his team have also been working closely with expert fishermen from Japan. “They can do the same techniques that they do in Japan, and also bring the fish to us, but that’s more of a micro-seasonal thing, because the seasonality of that is based on if they can go out or if they’re in the mood to fish,” he says. 

Nothing fuels the chef quite like getting a phone call from a supplier about a good catch. “You know when you hear that and there’s only one fish, you want to make sure you do it justice. Whether I talk about it in my menu or not, if I go to sleep, at least I know I didn’t put their efforts to waste,” he adds. His commitment is clear as I watch him slicing through tuna with expert precision, or rendering a live king crab brain dead before taking it apart with a familiar ease (a technique similar to ikejime, which keeps the meat firm and at optimal quality).

Rendering a king crab brain dead to preserve the quality of its meat
Rendering a king crab brain dead to preserve the quality of its meat

A Focus On Flavor

As for what goes into conceptualizing his menus, Bruce emphasizes that his approach is product-driven, above all else. “A lot of ideas that I do honestly come from the concept of condensing a product, like the many angles of seeing it,” he expounds. “It’s like looking at a piece of fish and thinking of the best way to serve it, so that it can be served on its own. You put in so much work, and when you place it on the plate, it looks very simple; but when people eat it, it just feels like there was a lot of hard work behind it, even if there’s only two things on the plate. Maybe you can feel that the person who made this has seen this fish a million times.”

I had the opportunity to try some dishes that Bruce served on the evening of Lifestyle Asia’s shoot, and I can say that his philosophy holds true in every bite. Iai serves its nigiri without a drop of soy sauce to let the seafood’s flavors and textures shine. The Chutoro (the part of the tuna that is somewhere between fatty and lean); Smoked Toro (the fattier part of the tuna); Vinegared Saba (mackerel) with myoga (ginger blossom), scallions, and pickled seaweed; and Gamba Roja (Spanish red shrimp) stood perfectly on their own atop beds of well-seasoned rice, creating a well-rounded blend of salty, sweet, and tart flavors. 

The innovative appetizers also exhibited the chef’s dedication to simplicity and care. Take the Iwashi Pan, made with light and crisp homemade milk bread topped with garlic aioli, tangy-sweet bell peppers, and a sliver of Japanese sardine (iwashi); or the dish of decadent foie gras filling with rhubarb, sandwiched between two thin biscuits of black sesame and coconut. 

Engaging visuals are as crucial as flavor, exemplified by the Tiula Itum, an appetizer that takes inspiration from the chef’s recent Basilan trip. Placed on a unique silver platter, it features a taro puff with a filling of octopus, bell peppers, and coconut milk, reminiscent of its namesake dish (a Tausug soup). Its accompanying course is Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) with king crab, abalone, Hokkaido uni (sea urchin), and a dollop of caviar. The eye-catching appetizers also included a pairing of Oyster Croustade (a dashi-based pie tart with a creamy oyster filling) and Clam Tart (roasted squash, zucchini puree, pickled squash, and clam ceviche), which were picturesque and refreshing starts to the roster of courses. 

Detailed Craftsmanship In Every Corner

The concept of the “shokunin pursuit” also serves as the backbone of Iai. “Traditionally, shokunin live and breathe amongst all of us—the term is basically a reference towards a craftsman,” Bruce explains. This element of craftsmanship is in every corner of the restaurant, and I mean this with no hint of exaggeration. 

A table inside Iai with a floor-to-ceiling window view
A table inside Iai with a floor-to-ceiling window view

On the food side, Bruce looks at the nuances and details that go into preparing each ingredient for a dish. “There are certain things that I obsess with, like the craftsmanship of butchering fish, of polishing and washing rice, and making small calibrations for myself on a day to day basis,” he says. 

Yet beyond the culinary, the very space of Iai exudes this level of rapt attention, thanks to the efforts of Jae—the other half of the powerful duo who oversees everything that happens outside the kitchen. 

The private dining area in Iai
The private dining area in Iai

“In our partnership, he’s more than happy to let me run free with the things that I am very interested in,” she states. “And so this space is basically a reflection of these design sensibilities and aesthetics that I’m deeply drawn to. Wabi is a very crucial inspiration behind this.” Wabi is a Japanese concept that follows the philosophy of “less is more,” keeping things simple and elegant through manmade and natural elements that strike a delicate balance. Her other inspirations include Japanese architect Tatsuro Miki, Belgian interior designer and antiquarian Axel Vervoordt, and multi-hyphenated Japanese architect Shinichiro Ogata. Jae even finds a muse in literature and fashion, citing Martin Margiela and “In Praise of Shadows,” a longform essay on Japanese aesthetics by writer Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. She compiled all these inspirations into a vision board, which she provided as reference to Studio Ong, the design group behind Iai.

“Studio Ong was my co-conspirator in all things. They really helped me bring my vision to life, and they were so patient with every single thing that I wanted to do here,” Jae enthuses. Sleek and minimal, yet welcoming, Iai’s interiors reflect the restaurant’s Japanese inspirations while showcasing the versatility and beauty of Philippine craftsmanship. 

“Japan is such a massive inspiration, but it was important for me to localize it in the Philippines and where we are,” Jae adds. For instance, she was looking to incorporate the technique of shou sugi ban, where wood is charred with fire to preserve it and protect it from the elements. While Iai’s wood paneled walls don’t feature shou sugi ban, they still bear its captivating charcoal-like color and texture through dehydrated panels of banana tree trunks that were painted black. Meanwhile, napkins are made of traditional inabel fabric from Ilocos; certain wood elements are made from kamagong (known for its density and durability); and the spell-binding lamps (one of the first things people will notice when they see Iai from the outside) are made by Indigenous PH—a social enterprise company that works with indigenous communities to create products from sustainable materials. 

A close-up of Iai's alluring, handcrafted lamps
A close-up of Iai’s alluring, handcrafted lamps

Of course, there are still a number of beautiful Japan-made accents in the set-up, including Iai’s distinctive smoked bamboo (susutake) chopsticks from an artisan in the Kanazawa prefecture (which smell just as pleasant as one would expect). “I think every single detail here at Iai has been, I don’t want to say belabored; it might seem like it to some people, but truly and honestly, that’s just how Bruce and I work when we really find ourselves interested or fascinated by something,” Jae intimates. “If you’re building your second home, you want to be surrounded by beautiful things.”

A Partnership Of Mutual Affinities And Provocation

Jae and Bruce describe their relationship as a highly collaborative one. “I basically take care of everything else so that Bruce can focus on the food,” Jae states. 

Theirs is a partnership of “mutual affinities and provocation,” as she so aptly puts it. Everything the couple does reflects their interests, and in turn, these preferences are springboards for further innovation. They build upon each other’s ideas and inclinations, resulting in a never-ending conversation of possibilities. 

“We do what makes sense for us and what we personally like. Yes, the customer is in mind, the people that we would love to cook for and we like to cook for. But always at the end of the day, it goes back to whether we personally like it,” Bruce adds. 

“I think maybe that’s also one of the strengths that we have in our partnership. I do have that editorial background, so I can help Bruce create experiences or fill in the gaps,” Jae states. “If he’s hyper focused on food and doesn’t really have time to think about what vessel to serve it on, that’s where I can step in with my very specific tastes.”

“For example, let’s say I have a certain way of presenting a dish. Then Jae sees a vessel that she feels is perfect for that,” Bruce elaborates. “Then I find that my dish is not worthy of the vessel, because of how beautiful it is. So then I have to improve it to match it.”

Jae continues: “I like to provoke Bruce all the time, and give him avenues through which he can better express himself. I like to challenge him, because I know him well enough to know how he can improve, or do things a different way.”

I ask Bruce what he hopes customers will take away, each time they dine at Iai. He smiles at this, his answer as straightforward and genuine as the ethos that drives him: “I want the experience to be like giving someone a big hug.”

“I can speak so much about technique, mastery, and all that stuff, but in the end, we want people to feel the heart and soul of the cooks, the servers, the whole restaurant, from the moment they enter and exit,” he expresses. “We want people to feel like they ate in and got welcomed into someone’s home.”

Upon leaving the restaurant’s premises, with its warm glow, friendly staff, and the ever-dedicated and passionate duo that is Bruce Ricketts and Jae Pickrell, I knew they were on the right track to doing just that. 

Iai is located at the ground floor of The Montane, 8th Ave. cor. 35th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (directly in front of the Grand Hyatt). The restaurant is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 6:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. For inquiries and reservations, visit https://www.iaimanila.com/.

Photos by Kieran Punay of KLIQ, Inc.

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