Miyabi Kaizen II
I can hear all the pro cooks coughing into their fists *Cayards* and *Ducotes* and *Why would you buy any brand but Dexter-Russell or Forschner/Victorinox?* and I would say to each of them that work is work. Cooking at home can and should be something entirely different from powering out in a commercial kitchen. You aren’t doing 800 covers a night at your house–you are entertaining friends and family and most importantly, yourself. Those cooks might still argue that they can’t see paying that much for a knife but my answer would be go to Sur La Table and pick one up and play with it a little while and you’ll see why. And the beauty of Sur La Table is you can do just that. They even keep a basket of potatoes right there for you to slice and dice. They have a number of different brands (including Shun for all you lefties out there) and they are more than happy to let you handle them. Sur La Table also has your sharpening steel, your high end cutting boards, the mineral oil for your high end cutting board, and Mark Bitterman’s gourmet salts. I like the fine grain Pink Himalayan myself. They carry the whole line of OXO Good Grips utensils and containers, and they have plates and cups and glasses and barware out the wazoo. They aren’t giving anything away, but they do have frequent sales, and I take it back. Right now they are practically giving away Le Creuset enameled cast iron cookware. But going back to the knives, even if you don’t buy from Sur La Table, it is invaluable to actually lay hands on the knife to find exactly what you want and then go online to try to find it at a better price. To me, Sur La Table is the Christmas store, and it is so conveniently located right by Fresh Market and Cinemark–so one parking lot, two or even three destinations.