Octaveman

If the original poster was looking for a small knife, sure, I would've recommended a Santoku but he's looking for a 8"-10" Chef. I'm not a proponent of small knives anyway because I do 90% of my cutting/slicing needs with a 270mm but I do see the benefits of a smaller knife if you constantly use it for small or more precise cutting jobs. I use the 270mm for mincing garlic to slicing up watermellon. I also have a 210mm that surprised on how much I enjoy using it. That's about as small as I'll go though so a Santoku is still too small for me. The extra 3+ inches is greatly appreciated when it's needed and with Japanese knives, the difference in weight is just a few ounces. Swicks, let us know what you ultimately decided on. Cheers Edited to add...Cool, Greg. Glad you like the knife. After a few sharpenings the true potential will show through and you will be amazed. Yeah, sometimes on these budget lines a little adjustment may be needed as it's hit and miss in the fit and finish department. The handle on mine was fine...a few hairline gaps between the tang and the scales but no big deal at all to me. The blade is what I was after.

Nathan, who said anything about not being polite or assuming the world revolves around Markk or anyone else that makes special requests? Katie's rant implied that Markk or anyone else shouldn't complain about various conditions they encounter at a restaurant. Seems you're in that camp too. Well, go ahead and eat your overcooked food with your hands and wipe them off on your shirt sleeve and you'd better like it too. I think it's stupid as hell to sit there and take whatever level of service or quality of food they get and expect everyone to do the same in the name of restaurant efficiency. The tail does not wag the dog. Asking to sit at a different table is not screwing you up as the customer behind me. If anything, you may get seated quicker if I have to wait for the table I want (um...I wait, the next person in line behind me takes the table I don't want and so on). If you are ten groups back it shouldn't matter to you one bit if I get seated now or 8 tables from now. I do this all the time because of my family situation and see absolutely nothing wrong with it. Nobody at any time said anything about unreasonablness and frankly why the hell do you care if I complain my steak was overcooked? You shouldn't and contrary to what you may think, it doesn't screw anything up for anyone. So what if you get your food 30 seconds later because I had to return my steak. Effin deal with it. You have perfected the art of whining without whining. GAH!!!!!!!

I'd have to put my vote in for fresh crab cocktails (two or three), sourdough bread and a steaming bowl of clam chowder at the Fisherman's Warf. Fun to walk around the area too.

It's not hard to determine if the hostess is not entirely present mentally. I do have special circumstances that I address at the time I put my name on the list or make my reservations. They're very simple...I need a "table" with four seperate chairs because I will be bringing my 11 month old still in his car seat for one seat, my 2-1/2 year old that needs a high chair for the other then my wife and I. See? Simple. But for some reason, these visual accroutrements that greet me seem to think it doesn't matter that I asked for a table and try to sit me at a booth. I don't want my toddler sitting in the isle in her high chair. It makes me very nervous when the server is holding or passes hot plates of food over her head when they arrive. I don't think it's unreasonable. One time at the same restaurant on the same visit, I was walked to a booth three different times by three different airheads and waiting over 30 minutes for this. Tables were open all over the place. I finally walked out after suggesting to the manager she get new employees as at least three of them were useless. I feel that if I'm respected as a customer and he/she knows the restaurant (if requested best lighting, best servers, best ventilation, etc.), the hostess will get my respect as will all the staff I come into contact with since the hostess has just set the tone for my dining experience. I rarely complain about anything unless "it" just will not work out...seating, quality of food, unruely neighbors, etc. If they respectfully try to correct my concerns, then I will do what I can to be reasonable with their attempts to help my family out. It takes quite a bit for me to get upset about something. And it's true for me that I do involve the hostess when asked how was my dinner. I always make it a point to tell everyone when it's good and only my server when it's not. We need more hostess's like phlox that's for sure. :-)

Who and where please. ← Thai Cafe in Clairemont Mesa (4722 Clairemont Mesa Blvd). Mind you, this is not fabulous Thai cuisine--but it's definitely decent Thai grub. Except for the pad thai, which has got a bad case of the sweet-and-gummies. But then, if you're following good buffet practice you're avoiding the noodles anyway, right? Do have some of the coconut rice, though--that's definitely worth the carb hit. ← There are times when you don't care an aweful lot about high quality and you just want to chow down. A Thai buffet will definately break up the monotony of having Chinese all the time. thanks for the tip.

With stainless knives like the ones I recommended, they are all clad with a softer SS to support the hard core (called Kasumi contruction) and do have the ease of maintenance thing going for them. They don't need to be washed off and cleaned right away like with carbon knives. The steels used do not compare to the duration of sharpness of carbon but they come close. The powdered steel blades will stay sharp longer than the other SS knives but still don't match carbons in this category. The soft stainless sides will get marked up over time by using the scrubby side of a sponge or a rough towel but these knives are not made for looks. They are meant to be everyday knives that will "age" just like anything else that gets used a lot. Carbon knives are awesome when it comes to performance. They can get screaming sharp and stay that way with normal usage for a long time. They are a joy to sharpen and just as fun to use. Out of all my gyuto's, I pull out the carbons more often than the stainless. They are stamped so no cladding is involved thus making them a little lighter too. The Hiromoto HC is a great carbon steel blade. Carbon knives will need to be washed and thoroughly dried after using but it's no big deal really. If you use the knives often, they don't need to be oiled to keep from rusting. That's only needed in super high humidity climates like Hawaii or if you're going to store it for a while. I don't oil any of mine. The Hiromoto AS gives you the best of both worlds. The carbon core will patina and rust like a standard carbon knife but only on the exposed part. The stainless cladding adds a special look to it and gives you some properties of stainless knives up to the edge. The kanji is cool...the knife is cool and a great performer. The edge is very hard and will last longer than most with normal use. If carbon is being seriously considered, then I'd also like to add the Misono Swedish Steel Series to my list of recommendations. I have this one too and you can get the bitchin dragon engraving on it for free!! It too is a great performer. I would say definately get a Gyuto, not a Santoku. The Santoku typically only goes to 6 inches with few exceptions whereas the Gyuto can go to 13 inches. 240mm is a great overall size for the average user. Which one you choose should be based on your style. Do you leave stuff in the sink to be washed later or are you a stickler for cleaning things when you're done with them? Keep in mind that these are budget lines so they are not going to be perfect. The Tojiro's are hit and miss when it comes to F&F. Some people get extremely picky about this and others don't see it as an issue. I personally feel that if the knife is a solid workhorse of a knife and performs and sharpens up great then I'm happy regardless if the handle is not finished like I'd like. If you want a knife with a nicely finished handle , then increase your budget to over $200 and get a Ryusen Blazen. Otherwise be satisified in the fact that you've got a great working knife at a great price. A few notes on the handles of the knives I recommended. The Tojiro DP's handle is pretty squared off meaning the edges are noticible in your hand. The Tojiro Powder steels handle is a bit more rounded but still quasi squared off. Both Hiromoto handles are very comfortable. Nicely rounded and fits my hand well. The Misono Swedish handle is also comfortably rounded. Keep in mind that if you wanted to get the DP, you can easily sand the handle to your liking. Many people I know have done that. All these knives will balance very well. They are lighter, harder and thinner and glide through food like nobody's business. I used Henckles all my life until 2.5 years ago when I bought my first Gyuto. I will never go back. Please let me know if you have any more questions. Cheers, Bob

Paul, these are not underground makers. These are the top makers in Japan and are sold over there like Henckles is sold here. Mellisa, western style knives are NOT single beveled. The bevel does slightly favor one side but the edge is so thin that there is no noticeable affect to the user. With the knife being 1mm thick right before the edge, I don't think there are many people that can tell if it's a 50/50 bevel or a 70/30 bevel. The western style knives are used by lefties and righties alike. If the thought of it bothers you, send it to the locations above and have them change it to a 50/50 grind. No big deal. On the personal preference issue, just return it if you think it's too light or doesn't feel right. You can get a feel for the knife when it arrives and compare it to heavier euro knives. Here's the thing though. These knives are not meant to be just held, they are meant to be used and it's a sure bet that it will cut your food better than anything you've ever owned. Balance won't be an issue as they are perfectly balanced at the 240mm size. It's light and will not take much effort to cut anything. I'm always amazed that when I cut carrots with a freshly sharpened knife that it feels like I'm cutting air. The only time I know I cut through is when I hear it and when it hits the board.

It's the opinion of many that stores do NOT have the best interest of the consumer at heart when it comes to knives. The majority of stores sell all the same German knives and for their Asian influnced knives they MIGHT have Shun or Global...that's it. IMHO Shun is not very representative of what Japanese knives are all about. They have more of a Euro profile to them and they are heavier than knives coming from Japan. Knives coming out of Japan are incredible and fun as hell to use. Unfortunately only specialty stores "in the know" carry them and they are sparsley located around the country. With that being said, here are my recommendations for you to consider. 1. For the best bang-for-the-buck stainless knife: Tojiro DP 240mm Gyuto at $60 2. For the best bang-for-the-buck carbon knife: Hiromoto HC 240mm Gyuto at $50 3. For the best carbon core surrounded in stainless: Hiromoto AS 240mm Gyuto at $132 4. For the best powder steeled knife for the price: Tojiro Powder Steel 240mm Gyuto at $149 If you go for #1 or #2, you can afford to expand with another knife. A boning knife for instance. This is a likely choice since the gyuto is not made to get near bones. It is a veggie and meat prep knife. It's not to be used to bone chickens for instance as it may chip. At these prices, it only makes sense to expand your collection to fill gaps in your block and the Honesuki is a good thick heavy duty knife to do just that. I know a pluthera of people who have #1 and speak very highly of it. I have #2 and it truely is a great knife. #3 is a special knife in that it has a super blue carbon steel core and is sandwiched or surrounded by stainless. It has the benefits of cutting with carbon and the ease of maintenance with the stainless. I have owned this knife too and it is a great knife. Edge maintenance on this one will be minimal as the super blue core is very tough. #4 is a very tough workhorse of a knife. Powder Steeled knives are hard and hold their edge very well. This knife is often compared to the Ryusen Blazen that costs almost twice as much. As far as getting your knife professionally sharpened. If you get any of these knives there are only two places I would recommend sending them to (see below). The local knife sharpening services at the mall will just take your knife to a grinder and ruin your knife taking off so much metal and completely changing what made the knife great in the first place. A majority of the people I know have taken the time to learn how to sharpen their own knives. It's not difficult at all and easy to learn...it just takes some practice. Epicurean Edge located in Seattle WA, and D & R Sharpening Solutions located in Philly PA I hope this info helps and I strongly recommend any of the above knives and can almost guarantee you will love them over Euro knives (not going to name which ones because it always gets people's panties in a bunch) with the exception of the Meridian Elite by Messermeister. BTW, the website of those knives is the best online retailer and the cheapest too. They are located in Japan and can get you your knife in 4-5 days. I've received a knife from them in 3 days once. Amazed the crap out of me. Cheers, Bob

Who and where please.

What's your budget? How "high Quality" did you want to go? Do you want high maintenance (frequent sharpenings) or low maintenance? Use for the line at work or for home? Carbon or stainless? Looks like you're looking to buy a chef's knife. If that's what you use the most, then getting a chef knife first is a good course of action. Depending on your budget though, it's highly possible to get a few other knives that will compliment the chef's knife and still are all great performers. The performer reference was put there on purpose because what I will be recommending are stricktly Japanese knives. They vary in price quite a bit but given a certain budget I could recommend and would suggest getting a couple of great low-priced performers rather than one high-priced looker that performs as well but costs two to four times as much. Budget is always the place to start, savvy? So let's get started.

This is a great photo, GTO. I am no pro photographer by any means but the composition and focus effects are great. The variance in colors and size/shape of the nuts are very pleasing to the eye. I like it more than most food pics because of the depth of field. Gives more character than just a picture of a plate of food or a wine bottle. I love this photo. Think about entering it in a photo contest sometime. Very impressive. My kitchen has hardly any wall space. The one wall that's bare has three of my nicest knives resting on cast iron hooks along with a small knife rack with my steak knives on them. There is also a small Japanese 3D kanji print to keep them company. I also have a small 6x8 print the same style as those prints at mimi's of an Italian cook holding a plate of fish with three cats on the gorund looking up at him. Very cute. That's it.

I don't mean to be a killjoy but I've stopped "wishing" for things as it eventually leads to dissapointment. There's nobody in my life that's in a position to make any dream come true. If anything is going to happen it will be from my own hard work and saving. These are called plans, not wishes. But if per chance something extraordinary were to happen, I could easily start coming up with ideas like these.... 1. Custom Damascus Chef knife from Murray Carter (you know it Savilla) but it's really not needed as I have a Hattori KD in my block. That's a hard act to follow. 2. Bigger kitchen 3. Top-of-the-line stove with built-in wok station 4. A month long food tour of New Orleans complete wth cooking instruction. 5. A month long food tour of Italy and France complete with cooking instruction. 6. A month long food tour of Japan complete with sushi and cooking instruction. Bob

Agreed, get him something that is not stored in a cupboard, drawer, our countertop. Get him something consumable like theatre tickets, sports tickets, etc. If he likes potato chips, get him a membership to the chip-of-the-month club. I had that and always looked forward to the day the box arrived full of 6 bags of various flavored chips from around the country. Get him something fun. A lava Lamp is fun. Something that would not expect. Have fun looking.

This past TG weekend my mom came down from the bay area to visit and have TG dinner at our new house. One restaurant she always makes a point to eat at is D.Z. Akins. While I'm not a huge fan of their dinners, their sandwiches are quite good. This time when we went I had their Rueben Hamburger but with Pastrami instead. I do have to say that it was a damn good burger with pastrami, swiss cheese, sour kraut and of course the burger patty. Served very hot with lots of flavor. My mom had a salad with three heeping servings of various chopped stuff like liver, chicken and tuna (I think). It was huge and looked quite nice. Honorable mention goes to their hot dog too. My daughter had the grilled hot dog kids meal and it too was quite tasty.

I don't think it would be an issue for you because 1-3 lbs a few times/month is no big deal. I've had my grandmother clamp meat grinder exactly like This one and never had issues with it other than the juice dripping part. It comes apart real easily and cleans just as easily. I say get the hand crank one.

Please explain how my post makes me seem unqualified. ← I was saying that your reply to me seemed like you thought I was saying you're not qualified. I never was saying you're not qualified and sorry for the confusion and/or misunderstanding. The $3k budget amount is arbitrary, of course, since the original poster never said what it was. The point was that it is ludicris to spend that much money when funds are tight to begin with. It makes more sense to put that much money into upgading the materials for your project.

I'm not doubting that an Architect is the go-to person for a complete overhaul and redesign of a kitchen from the ground up nor am I questioning the value you or any other architect provides. As a professional you should see a few things in that persons post that would elude to the fact that an architect is most likely out of his/her price range and very possibly overkill. The more responsible thing to do rather than recommend someone spend 10 times the amount they were thinking is to find out what kind of work they wanted to have done then proceed with your recommendation from there. As a professional would you feel comfortable recommending someone spend $5k for a remodel job with a budget of $3k? I'm sorry if you thought I was saying your services are not worth the cost or you're not qualified which your post kind of seemed that way. That is not the case. I'm saying Annachan should do some research and find out what services she requires based on the level of remodel he/she wants accomplished. My comments still stand. They should try to get the kind of service they need at a cost they can afford. Cheers

Hey, I know you're looking for a used Volkswagen circa 1972 but I can sell you a fully loaded Lamborgini if you're interested. WOW! I guess if you're loaded, go with an architect. There's a thread around here that discusses kitchen remodels. I'd suggest reading through that to see what others have done. I'd also suggest talking with various design services to get an idea of what they offer. That includes Home Depot, Lowe's or local cabinet shops. I think the level of remodeling you want would determine the expertise level of your designer. If you just want to color coordinate and get more efficient cabinets and a better countertop, why spend a whole lot of money to do that? If you totalyy want to redesin the entire thing from stem to stern then you may want to get a higher skilled person. Or you could just look through a bunch of magazines until you find what you like and find someone to put it in. In direct answer to your question, I'd spend $500 for someone to design my kitchen if they've shown me their prior work and I liked what I saw. One thing to keep in mind that those cabinet shops, Home Depot, etc. know where the higher profit margins are on their product so their may be a conflict of interest. If it were me, I would hire an independant designer and then find someone to build it. Hope this helped a little.

I noticed when I used them that I didn't have to use much force to get through the steak. No more sawing back and forth to cut the meat and no more grinding the blade against the plate. Very little pressure means very little wear on the edge. It's easier to sharpen the blade than replace the handle.

It's one thing to read about it and another to see it done. I highly recommend getting the sharpening video at www.korin.com. Details can certainly be learned through reading but seeing someone going through the motions is not subject to interpretation. DO NOT USE OIL on this stone. Soak in water until the bubbles stop and keep wet as you sharpen.

The uproar is not really an uproar. It's also not some anal knife-owner subject we people "in the know" like to preach. Washing by hand is a standard recommendation by many manfuacturers and sellers. Williams-Sonoma even recommends hand washing the Wusthof Classic's on their website. If no such recommendation exists with the knives you buy then the manufacturer obviously doesn't care how you treat them because they're not worth the recommendation. Truthfully, depending on what materials the handle is made of whether it be made of synthetic materials such as contoured polypropylene like the Wusthof's or Pakkawood like most Japanese handles are made from. The non-synthetic materials shrink and swell and will eventually degrade, dry out, pull away from the tang, etc. if subjected to the extreme heat of the dishwasher. Obviously this wouldn't affect the synthetic handles a whole lot but the caution to hand wash your knives (like Williams-Sonoma) is also because the knives can get banged around if not somewhat secured which has an affect on the quality of the edges. It just stands to reason that if you take reasonable care of something it will last longer. People say they just throw their knives in the dishwasher. It takes me 30 seconds to wash my steak knives by hand. What's the big deal? Of course I don't have a $25 set of blades. If I did, I wouldn't give a crap about them either. BTW, I hear a selling point of Cutco is that you can even put them in the dishwasher...that should tell you something. Bud, Randall makes some nice looking knives. I'm not partiall to the stag handles but they do look real nice. I'm telling ya, when I hit the lottery, those William Henry's are mine ooh yeah, baby. cheers

Price is an issue when the knives you think you'd like cost $500. After doing all of my research and combing the net I never found anything I liked that was reasonable. So I had to change my perspective. These were the cheapest high quality knives I could come up with...and they're not even steak knives. See, that was my problem. I was looking at what makers and retailers feel the consumer wants in a steak knife. I personally didn't want a thin switchblade of a steak knife and thats all they were offering. So I looked elsewhere and found a knife with the profile of a big steakhouse steak knife and tried it out. Some would say $100 for a set of knives you hate is expensive because you hate them, you won't use them. Some would say $25 for a set is just right because they get the job done and after a couple of years they throw them out. Some would say the William Henry set I gave the link to above would be perfect for them. The steak knife sets I tried were all under $100 and I ended up not liking them so I spent more money trying to sell and get rid of them AND at a loss. I say that $300 for a set of knives that will last me a lifetime and will bring me great joy every time I use them is cheap. Even getting just 10 years of use will only cost me $2.50/month. I also am a firm believer that if you want something bad enough you find a way. I've used ebay before to fund my knife purchases and I've *gasp* even saved money over many months to buy what I wanted. I'm a musician and recently had a couple of high-paying gigs so I bought them. Yes, there were plenty of knives out there where they looked like my ideal knife but the cost was way over the $300 these cost. I like quality. I'm not the type to buy something and when it gets dull throw it out. I'm not the type to buy something I don't like using. If they're more than I originally planned to spend, I wait and save until I can afford them. Just that simple. You want something nice, you make it happen. You could also just buy one at a time. These knives have been around for a long while and their not going anywhere. If you look at the William Henry link above, notice that these have nearly the same profile as the one's I bought. As I see it I just saved myself $2,600. But enough of my reasoning on why I bought these...what does everyone else look for in a steak knife?

As UnCondundrum already knows these "steak" knives aren't really intended to be steak knives but the profile, materials, weight, feel in the hand are make for perfect steak knives IMHO. They are reminisant of a those big steakhouse knives but with more weight to them. They are the Masahiro MV Hankotsu (or boning knife). Yes, a boning knife but I swear they make the greatest steak knives. I've made several purchases this past year and consequently several sales but my search is now over. They are stainless, have a razer edge, fit and finish is very good and the profile is very ergonomic for this purpose. They weigh 180 grams and the 6" blade just glides through my steak. When I first showed my wife these knives out of the box, she said, "holy crap, these are WAY too big". When we used them the following night on a couple of 1.5" thick ribeye steaks, she changed her tune. She flat out said that she loves them and was very impressed with how easy they were to handle. Regarding keeping them sharp. The only part of the knife that comes into contact with the plate is really about 1/2" to 3/4" from the tip. They are sharp enough that you don't need to use a lot of pressure on the plate so I completely feel the edges will last quite a while between sharpenings. Well, other than THESE, I think the Hankotsu makes for a great steak knife.

I've been on a quest to find my ideal steak knife this whole year. Why? Because with all the knives on the market either the appearance sucks, the handle is too small, the blade is serrated, the blade is too short or too long, cost is too high, materials are low quality, etc. After searching high and low for my ideal steak knife, I've finally found exactly what I was looking for and the choice may surprise you. It did me. So I'm curious, with the vast selection of styles, shapes and colors what kind of steak knife do you own or want to own? Do you like to rip your steak with serrated knives or make clean slices with non-serrated knives?

The Fillippi's in Kearny Mesa is much better IMHO. The pizza is most definately better in my experience.