Staying Sharp

A couple of weekends ago, I took my two favorite kitchen knives (an 8" Wüsthof Classic Cook's Knife and a 6.5" Kershaw Shun Classic Santoku) for a long-overdue sharpening. On the recommendation of several people on the Good Eats Message Board, I brought my blades to Perfect Edge Cutlery in San Mateo, located about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose.

The store is well-known in some Bay Area culinary circles as the place to go for knife sharpening. I had to drop off the knives and pick them up later in the week, as they only do the sharpening work in the morning before the store opens. When I came back to pick up the knives a few days later, I took the opportunity to test drive a few of the many blades they have in their vast inventory. The salesman to whom I spoke was very knowledgeable (at the very least, he knew that my German and Japanese knives have different sharpening requirements, which is more than I can say about the folks at the high-end culinary shops that also provide sharpening services), friendly, and helpful. Overall, I was very pleased with the shopping experience and the job that they did reshaping and sharpening the knives.

Of course, the proof of their workmanship came across when I used the newly sharpened blades to take apart a pineapple. Both of the knives cut through the tough outer skin of the fruit like a hot knife through butter. The Shun felt especially good - it was like getting my hands on a brand new knife. I'll definitely go back to Perfect Edge for my future knife sharpening needs.