I will agree 100% that his knives haven't been tried by any of us, and that for the money, I'd go another obvious direction.
However, just because he hasn't been "discovered" by us, or involved in a passaround here doesn't mean he isn't floating knives around with chef's elsewhere.
He has brooklyn on his doorstep and the other boroughs in his backyard. I guarantee he's getting input from somewhere. TRUST ME on this one.
Lefty,
CB was mentioned on the forums for at least 2 years that I can remember. Joel paid a visit to Dave, who had some good things to say about the knife (handle is comfortable comes to mind) but I don't know anybody on any of the three forums - KF, FF, and now KKF, who actually owns one.
How did it become popular in NYC? Well, there was a couple of writeups, one in NY Times (and recently on CB end-grain boards, followed by latest article about knives) and at least a couple of small video interview online that I know of. The author in the NY Times didn't have much experience writing about knvies, which made me wonder, so I asked a friend who writes a column in a local newspaper and is familiar with the industry, and he told me that this is is how the paper makes money - you approach an agent, shell out 6-8K and get a nice write up about you by people often unfamiliar with the subject.
CB probably gets some imput from the forums, but he never bothered to join and to have his knives evaluated. Which I think is mistake if you are serious. But Joel's market is not pros, and educated home cooks. His market is young, wealthy professionals who like expensive things without knowing much about them. The emphasis on handle material and mozaic pins (designer stuff) speaks for itself. I have no doubts his knives will outcut German steel, but to claim that best knives come from Japan and Brooklyn (which I am sure he was joking about), is ludicrous.
Don't want to sound overly negative, but there are A makers, and B makers. Everybody starts from B, but some people stay there, even as time goes by. That is how I view things. Plain and simple.
M