MORE EDGINESS, MORE ANGST, MORE MONEY: MORE CHOOSING A KNIFE

OR, SOME THINGS YOU DON’T THINK ABOUT WHEN IN THE FLUSH OF ACQUISITION LUST, BUT YOU REALLY SHOULD.

Thanks in advance for bearing with me as I try and cobble all this stuff together. On the other hand, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it.

For those poor souls reading this in the sort of piecemeal fashion in which it’s presented, and for those who have read me on the topic before, it...

Writing a coherent and reasonably short piece – say, umm, well “chapter length” -- about how to choose knives has stymied me for more than a year. I’ve made dozens of starts but haven’t finished any of them, while over the same period have written tens of thousands of words on all sorts of culinary cutlery topics in the form of board posts (on CT and other forums).

The subject of choosing a knife – particularly a chef’s knife (or gyuto, or santoku) – can’t really be separated from...

Craig Bodenhorn passed away a couple of days ago. Craig was a close friend, an energetic political activist, and a brilliant chef.

I met Craig almost a dozen years ago in an online politics chatroom, he was funny, charming, knowledgeable, all the good things. We shared a similar political outlook, and had very similar reactions to the other chatters we met in shared rooms. We became virtual friends quickly.

We became real friends when we started talking about food....

I'm almost afraid to write this, but if things go according to plan I will be opening on Halloween! Two weeks from this Saturday!

My contractor is on schedule. My walls are up and I'm painting starting tomorrow. It saves me a few dollars and given the surprises I've had, I need every nickel. After I've painted they are putting in the T-bar ceiling, and laying the lino in the bathrooms. My 11 foot island hood is sitting in the empty side of the building, waiting its turn to be installed....

Long time no blog. Sorry about that, Chief.

What can I say? I had a rough year. And last few months – up until early September – Oy! Don’t ask. Speaking of not asking, I’d like to thank everyone who’s encouraged me to start blogging again.

One of the reasons I started this blog to begin with was to write about things which were hard to write about for one reason and another. In my case, the most difficult subject is knives. I’ve got a lot of information on the subject...