Question about equipment

[hjshorter]

I'm not sure if this is right place for this question but I wanted to ask some locals...Does anyone know a good place in the DC area, preferably Montgomery County, to get knives honed? I have been trying to find a decent place, and have struck out a couple of times already. We've tried Chesapeake Knife and Tool, but my knives come back as if they had just run them through an electric sharpener a few times.

[CathyL]

Heather, it's so much better to sharpen your own. There's a past thread here that might be helpful.

I got some very useful guidance from the Professional Cutlery Direct web site: click.

With a little practice, sharpening is not difficult at all, and quite satisfying.

[jaybee]

With a little practice, sharpening is not difficult at all, and quite satisfying.

Why am I finding so many funny lines on EG tonight?

[CathyL]

We're all natural comedians.

[DaveFaris]

For that matter, does anyone know of a good kitchen supply place in the DC area? My budget can't afford William Sonoma, and Bed, Bath & BlahBlahBlah just never seems to have what I'm looking for.

Ideally, I'd be interested to know of a restaurant supply place that is open to the public.

[Malawry]

Sur La Table sharpens knives. I have no idea how good a job they do with it, though.

If somebody were to put together a DC eGullet gathering (*cough*), I'd gladly show any who showed up how to sharpen a knife. I learned by having a chef stand behind me and put his hands over mine so I could feel for the proper pressure and angle.

L'academie de Cuisine, where I am a fulltime student, offers a recreational course in knife skillz. It's taught by Brian Patterson and takes up a few hours of your Saturday. Highly recommended. www.lacademie.com will point you there. Reserve early, I think it's the first recreational class to book up when they release their schedule.

Dave, I've wondered about area restaurant supply stores, but I need so little in my own kitchen and have so little money to use for replacements that I have not investigated. Please let me know what you find if you go exploring on your own, I am really interested in the subject. In addition to Williams-Sonoma and BedBath DC has the other yuppie chain Sur La Table (several locations in the area, imo much better selection and value than Williams Sonoma) and La Cuisine, a small independent shop in Alexandria, VA. I checked out Kitchens Etc new store in Rockville, MD a few weeks ago and wasn't exactly impressed with the prices, quality or selection, but two things there really knocked me out: they have more kettles and more canning supplies than anybody else I've seen. If I was an experienced canner I'd probably get a lot of my supplies there.

Welcome to the new DCers.

[vengroff]

If somebody were to put together a DC eGullet gathering (*cough*), ...

I would be happy to host such an event in the future. The only reason I hesitate to do so now is that my kitchen is in pretty rotten shape. We bought the house knowing that we had a remodeling project in front of us, but it's going to be a matter of at least several months to get the job done.

[hjshorter]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I have a whetstone, but just don't have the touch to sharpen my own knives. Plus, anything I do in the kitchen is done with a three year old standing on a chair next to me...not so good for playing with knives. Maybe I will give Sur La Table a try.

[coastcat]

Regarding kitchen supply places... the question came up during Kim O'Donnell's live chat on 1/14, and there were several suggestions from the chatters. The transcript is here.

I agree with Malawry about Kitchen Etc. There's a large selection of some things (dinnerware as far as the eye can see), but there's not much there for the serious baker. (I'll stick with Cakes Plus in Laurel for baking supplies) Granted, Kitchen Etc knows how to be tempting - when you step off the escalator you're immediately faced with an array of All-Clad!

drool

[elyhtak]

Suggestions for kitchen supplies...I have had much luck at HomeGoods, which is an outlet store that sells all house wares. They have a decent kitchen supplies section although sometimes better than others...the small appliances are great; I bought a Zojiroshi rice cooker for $50! Another great place that I love (especially if you can't afford normal Williams Sonoma) is the Williams Sonoma outlet up in Leesburg Premium Outlets. They have extensive kitchen supplies at a huge discount. The outlet mall also has a Le Crueset outlet.