Stephen is a graduate of Northwest’s professional culinary program. He’s also a graduate of Florida State University where he studied nutritional science and started a student cooking club. He visited Northwest in late 2017 on the same day we were discussing knives and stone sharpening. Quite serendipitous, for he brought with some amazing knife shields he crafted himself for some interesting show and tell. They were quite impressive.
In my day a knife was a good knife if it was sharp. Getting it sharp with one’s own hand was not something all chefs and cooks did. Now the selection of knives are off the charts gorgeous, from handle to folded blades, AND their sheaths. Stephen also displayed the collection of knives he has gathered since he graduated, and which he’ll be taking with him when he works at Maemmo in Norway. Now I could try to convince my students about the importance of knife sharpening on a whetstone till I’m blue in the face, but nothing can be more inspiring than a grad who brings in beautiful knives in sheaths he made himself. Of course his knives are razor sharp! This may be the class with the sharpest knives ever. Even sharper than the knives my teachers carried when I went to school.
Artisanship starts with the most basic tools. And when the tools are treated as gems and not just “basically”, you know the craft is moving in the right and perhaps even better direction. Thanks for dropping by and sharing Stephen. Great timing!