Jorge Ito/IF-37.182

Jorge Ito was born in Japan to two fathers, a Japanese accountant and a Mexican-American food critic. Ito lived in Japan until adolescence, when his family decided to move to the United States in order to be closer to family. They relocated to Boston, where Ito’s American-born papa had grown up.
Ito was fascinated with food, stemming from his love for Japanese cuisine, his affection for both of his fathers’ cookings, and his papa’s job as a food critic. He tried to cook at home, and even participated in teenage culinary programs. However, before enrolling in culinary school, he came to realize that while he loved food, he didn’t really love cooking. He ultimately decided to follow in his papa’s footsteps and become a culinary journalist.
Ito decided to stay in the Boston area because of the flourishing food scene and got a beat reviewing local restaurants. He found that one such local restaurant tended to have food that he found boring and uninventive, and published a review saying as much. The owner of the restaurant indignantly called Ito to complain and admitted that xe had been meaning to update the menu, and invited him back to try it.
That owner, Margarito Nava, became one of Ito’s closest friends. Whether the two of them were bonding over their Mexican-Japanese heritage, their love for street food, or just appreciating having someone to speak to in Spanish, they could rely on one another for a good conversation. The two were practically inseparable. When Nava was scouted by the Boston Flowers, xe invited Ito to join the team, and he accepted.
===On the Flowers===
In order to accommodate his suddenly travel-filled schedule, Ito shifted to a food blog, Ito’s Eats. The blog gained some popularity and notoriety, and was updated regularly. Ito made an effort to invite his teammates to join him for meals that he critiqued, giving him plenty of one-on-one time with each of them.
Not one to mince words, his honesty earned him a steadfast friendship with captain Beck Whitney. Ito was also more than willing to help Whitney find vampire-friendly restaurants, in exchange for having her help him write reviews of the restaurants. Her column, Beck’s Bites, helped pull in a new audience for the blog.
Ito came to view pitcher Dunn Keyes as something like a younger sister. An only child, Ito appreciated the chance to take care of someone else. He would fuss over her eating habits, her outfits, and her music being too loud; reports are unclear on which of these were jokes and which were serious concerns.
Midway through Season 3, Ito was incinerated by a rogue umpire. His loss was keenly felt by all of his teammates, particularly by his oldest and closest friend, Margarito Nava. In Ito’s honor, Nava occasionally updates Ito’s Eats under the name MargarIto’s Eats. Xe also added Ito’s favorite dish to the menu at Margaritoville. Jorge’s Chicken Katsu is among the best-sellers.
===Trivia===
* Ito is fluent in Japanese, and still speaks the language at home with his parents.
* Ito is slightly less fluent in Spanish, but still quite capable. He frequently speaks Spanish with Nava and Keyes.
* Ito has anonymously self-published several books of poetry. When asked, he says that he has no idea how well they sell, he just likes writing them.
* Ito has claimed that he was not allergic to peanuts until . This has been corroborated by old columns written by Ito where he mentions eating food with peanuts.