VINGS

By Joyce Pangco Pañares

TO SAY that Jun Sy is a committed foodie would be an understatement.

Other people would go abroad to savor the taste of various cuisines—whether it's souvlaki straight off the skewer in Greece, otoro sashimi inside a fish market in Japan, or puttanesca from a nonna's table in Italy.

Sy took it a notch higher: He brought the proverbial culinary mountain to the Philippines—in Makati in 2022 and in San Juan just this month, to be exact.

"When I started cooking, my biggest pain point was getting the ingredients for a particular dish. So I thought -- what if I created a space where we gather all the ingredients and where foodies, professionals, amateurs, and even weekend cooks can have this experience of having everything within reach?" he told Manila Standard Cravings in an interview.

"Food became my therapy, but since I was a stickler for recipe and could not cook oudio, I had to go to different stores to get the ingredients I need -- spices for a Mediterranean dish or finishing salt that I had to source from Amazon," he said. He turned his frustration into One World Deli, a specialty food market that offers a curated selection of artisanal ingredients ranging from imported meat, seafood, spices, wines, and chocolates, among others.