Just wanted to write a quick thank you to all the staff at Epicurean Edge. I was planning on attending the Seattle show but having a minor knee operation for the following week coupled with a cook walking off the line forced me into action. Bummed as I was, I took the opportunity of being off work/laid up to visit some good friends in Seattle about a week after.
I drove out to Kirkland to wrap up my short trip and parked down the road from the store. Walking in, I was stunned at the inventory of the shop. Small as it is, it is packed with case after case of incredible knives. Trying to not act a fool, I casually started to browse. I deflected a few questions asking if I was looking for anything in particular and kept turning the displays and oggling the knives I'd only seen so far online, hinoura's, fujiwara teruyasu's, etc. I was lingering at a few white #3 honyaki gyutos I'd never seen on the website, when a man comes up to me and asks if I'd like to see anything out of the cases in particular. I start talking to him a bit about honyakis and his experience with white #3 and he starts talking to me about the forge process a bit and his experience with it. I ask him if he has any of his work in the shop and ask him his name and he replies, "I'm Bill Burke." Long story short, I got to see and handle some of his work and hear him talk about each piece/his process, ask all the questions I could possibly want about the knife making process, check out some other maker's work who were at the show, and spend a good hour shooting the shizz with a legend in the field and an all around exceedingly friendly individual. Turns out he was in town and hanging out at the shop that day. Definitely an incredible surprise and one I'll remember for a long time.
I drove out to Kirkland to wrap up my short trip and parked down the road from the store. Walking in, I was stunned at the inventory of the shop. Small as it is, it is packed with case after case of incredible knives. Trying to not act a fool, I casually started to browse. I deflected a few questions asking if I was looking for anything in particular and kept turning the displays and oggling the knives I'd only seen so far online, hinoura's, fujiwara teruyasu's, etc. I was lingering at a few white #3 honyaki gyutos I'd never seen on the website, when a man comes up to me and asks if I'd like to see anything out of the cases in particular. I start talking to him a bit about honyakis and his experience with white #3 and he starts talking to me about the forge process a bit and his experience with it. I ask him if he has any of his work in the shop and ask him his name and he replies, "I'm Bill Burke." Long story short, I got to see and handle some of his work and hear him talk about each piece/his process, ask all the questions I could possibly want about the knife making process, check out some other maker's work who were at the show, and spend a good hour shooting the shizz with a legend in the field and an all around exceedingly friendly individual. Turns out he was in town and hanging out at the shop that day. Definitely an incredible surprise and one I'll remember for a long time.
