aeeble

Born in Tainan, chueh met Yvonne, the proprietress of Sakura Leaf, through a twist of fate. She quit her former job and became the manager of Sakura Leaf, tucked away in the quiet Lane 366, Zhongshan Road, Chiayi City. Though without any formal culinary training, chueh’s passion for food drove her to develop new dishes, guided by the principle of “insisting on Chiayi’s local produce.” She set off on a journey to hunt for fine ingredients: sweet oysters in Dongshi, rich honey in traditional markets, fragrant sesame oil in a mill. The running around did not end when she returned to the restaurant; long hours followed, poring over cookbooks and cooking shows for the faintest spark of inspiration, racking her brains over how to turn these flavors into creative, place-based dishes. Out of these repeated, hard-fought battles with recipes came one-of-a-kind creations: duck quiche, Dongshi oyster-sauce noodles, goat-milk curry, Chiayi purple-yam panna cotta, and “mousse-mud” lattes—each plate brimming with chueh’s ingenuity and affection for her homeland. In the courtyard a cherry tree stands quietly; a variety that rarely survives at low altitude, it has nevertheless guarded the entrance since the restaurant opened over a year ago. The building itself is a 50-year-old residence; during the Japanese period, Zhongshan Road was a district where Japanese settlers and prosperous Taiwanese merchants gathered. Upstairs, tatami stretches wall to wall, its Japanese ambience continuing out to paper blinds on the balcony, shiplap siding, and the cherry tree in the garden—together composing a beautiful vintage tableau. Staying true to the spirit of honest cooking, chueh and the warm-hearted staff member Chu Chu continue to serve sincere dishes in the little lane, as fervent as the cherry blossoms themselves.