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Rjgogue

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Just wanted to introduce myself and say hi to everybody here. My name is Ray and am new to the Forum but have been using this forum for its wealth of knowledge for some weeks now. I currently work at Uchi here in Austin as a prep cook and absolutely love it. I graduated Culinary School in Sept of '12 and have been working at Uchi since December. As my very first real kitchen job I must say I'm proud to have landed a gig in such a respectable kitchen. During school I wanted to buy me some 'quality' knives and put those Mercers to rest. Again without knowing any better I stopped into Sur La Table and settled on a Shun Premier 8" Chef Knife. And oh was It the center of attention the next day in class. Lol. I added a few more Shuns, telling myself "When I get out there into the industry I want to be taken seriously. I don't wanna show up with school knives!!"
I get the job at Uchi and learn there's SOOO much more out there! Lol. After several conversations with co-workers, Sous Chefs, and our Head Chef, I upgraded to a 210mm Nenox S-1 Ironwood Gyuto and a 150mm Masamoto VG Petty along with my 6" Shun Classic Chef Knife and 4" Shun Classic Paring knife (that I use exclusively for slicing avocado's) that I already had. Lately I've been wanting a Gyuto that's more in the 240mm range with a wa- handle, and after reading several posts, watching the YouTube video review from Japanese Knife Inports, AND seeing what was available on Korin (our restaurant does a bulk knife order twice a year through them at discounted rates) I settled on the Suisin Inox Honyaki Wa-Gyuto and an 8000 grit Kitayama stone to go with my King 1k/6k. I LOVE my Nenox but wish I had the knuckle clearance as I had with my Shun. The main reasons for me purchasing the Suisin were 1.) I wanted a longer Gyuto with a Wa- handle. 2.) I wanted something thinner than my Shun something equal to or thinner than my Nenox. 3.) it had to be from Korin and within my price range. You see...instead of paying for the whole knife outright, I have the option of dispersing it over 4 paychecks.
Anyhow, the knife is supposed to arrive Wednesday and I'm pretty sure I'll love it. I know there are people out there that will say with my experience I should have went in another direction, but I'm not bad at sharpening my knives, and I'm happy with the quality and feel of the knives I own. And in the end that's what matters right? You gotta be happy with your tools. Any how, that's me in a nutshell. Oh and did I mention when our head sushi chef(ichiban) heard I was wanting a longer knife he generously lent me his 30 year old, amazing condition, Special Order Double Bevel 270mm Masamoto Kiritsuke?!? Not sure of the steel but 30 years ago that carried a 1000.00 price tag!!! Mind you all of this info is coming from Him, but he's very respected and knowledgable and have no reason to believe he lied to me. All I know is you should have seen the looks on the other prep cooks' faces when I broke that bad boy out to slice shiitakes! Lol.
 
I got this one Jon, it's 'kiritsuke- shaped'. But seriously welcome, this is the ultimate place for knife knowledge.
 
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If I did this correctly, the Masamoto knife is above my Nenox. And thanks for the correction. My question would be if it's not a Kiritsuke, what is it?

*edit - pic didn't load properly. I'm sorry.
 
Kiritsuke shaped gyuto. Technically it would have to be single beveled to be considered a Kiritsuke here. You'll find we can argue almost any knife related issue. What is and is not a Kiritsuke included.

Welcome. I have some very fond memories of Uchi.
 
As a guest or did you work here? I've had the pleasure of eating here twice. The first time I ate off the static menu (I wanted to see what all my hard work went into. Lol.) The second time I ate strictly off the specials menu, and must say I'm working with a very talented group of people. I'm just soaking up all I can and can tell the difference in my knife skills from when I first started.
 
Thanks everyone for such a warm welcome. I do have a question about my Nenox. I've seen some production knives here with custom handles. Who would I inquire to about this subject and can anybody give me a ballpark figure for such a job?
 
My wife worked there. I ate there quite a bit and have no memory of even looking at a menu. Fantastic restaurant. It was 5 years ago when I was there often. No sushi anywhere near that level in Minneapolis.

Dave Martell does the best western handles. Check out his sub forum.
 
Thanks Brad! @Chuckles - they've sinced opened up Uchi Houston and are breaking ground for Uchi Dallas. Also sometime next year they are supposed to opening a new concept restaurant. Everything is hush hush still but all they are telling us is it's supposed to be something Austin has never seen. ...We'll see, but I wouldn't bet against Chef Tyson Cole. Lol.
 
Welcome, Ray, to KFF!

Excellent choice with the Suisin Honyaki Wa-Gyuto! I'd love to handle one some day!
 
Welcome. Will have to check out Uchi Houston soon and Uchi Austin next time I head up there.
 
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