A conversation with Jonny and Gemma from Pici
Pici is a delicious Italian restaurant located in the heart of St Kevins Arcade. The heavenly scent of their freshly made focaccia wafts up to Naked Accounting - let's just say I love supporting local businesses…
Pici is run by Chef Jonathan (He/Him), his partner Gemma (She/Her) and fellow chef Kaz Suzuki (He/Him). I conversed with the very cool Jonny and Gemma about trying goat heads soap and Italian Nonna’s.
When did the love of Italian food start?
While living in London, Gemma and I travelled a lot through Europe. I ended up meeting up with Kaz, the Executive chef at an Italian-inspired restaurant - we had previously worked together in Auckland at The Grove. I ended up working there, and from there on I fell in love with the cuisine.
Southern Italy has a very hot and dry climate, so not a lot of produce grows there. What does grow there are ingredients such as olives, grapes, semolina, durum wheat, figs, tomatoes and chillies etc. - so through necessity, they've created this amazing cuisine.
I think many people are going in this direction - where the focus is on good quality ingredients and simplicity. Whereas gastronomy went the complete opposite way - where it's like let's break things down to a molecular level - I'm trying to revert to the old way of thinking about food.
Furthermore, I also really appreciate the human element - traditionally, Italian food gets passed down from the mother - the mothers cook, the nonnas cook! I'm not looking at Gordon Ramsey or even some of the more famous Italian chefs; I'm more interested in the grannies out there making this shit, for you know a 100 years or longer.
Is keeping it simple one of the ethos of your business?
Yeah, for sure! Strip it back, if we want to make something, we'll make a recipe and create it and question if we need the extra garnish, is it necessary, is it essential for the dish, or is it just another added something to it.
Sweet, salty or sour?
That's the key is that you’ve got to balance it, every dish has to be balanced
If you had to pick
J: Ah… sweet, salty, sour… fat probably!
G: I’m a sweet person, I like sweet and salty - that's what I love about the olive oil cheesecake, its sweet and salty
What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?
Goat head soup in Bolivia and also guinea pigs from Peru and Bolivia
Guinea pigs - what does that taste like?
A cross between a quail and a chicken.
Would you have it again?
Yeah, I’ll try anything twice
What was your least favourite food as a child?
J: Yams.
G: Mushrooms, oysters, avocados. I love all of these now!
Who would be your dream dinner guest?
Probably the oldest, most wrinkliest nonna from the hills of Sicily.
What would be your dream entree, main and dessert?
J: Something that's come straight out of the garden or fish if I’m near the ocean.
G: It's all about the connection to the environment.
J: Yeah that's the key, I can’t think of a specific dish, I’m not going to be like “On my deathbed or whatever…”, it's all about the environment which it came from!
What’s your favourite thing about being in the heart of Karangahape Road?
Community and diversity - just being able to interact with so many different people
I feel like you get attached to the culture here, you find your place in it - that sort of community is pretty rare.
What’s next for you?
Take a holiday to eat and drink in the Hawkes Bay.
Naked Accounting Testimonial
It’s been really great to work with Naked Accounting - I think it's also nice to be a part of the community and have Naked Accounting understand our business - on a different level, instead of just “here's the numbers” - they get to see it everyday and understand how it's working!