Our Personal Collection of Chef's Knives

Lockdown had us deep diving into the craft of knifemaking across Ireland...

We had spent so much of 2020 and 2021 championing Irish produce, from farmers and brewers to bakers and cheesemakers. Our deliveries megapost went viral (okay, nationally, at least), we were in the mix for the prestigious Blas na hÉireann Producers Champion award and we were delighted to not only bear witness to a blossoming in appreciation for Irish craft but to play our part in stoking it, too. There was a palpable appreciation and a new-found grá for all things local, Irish and - above all - authentic and quality-driven.

For years we had seen so many chefs we admire brandish the most stunning works of art in the form of colourful and eclectic handmade chef’s knives, an extension of not only their skill but of their personal style. Forged and finished often by single individuals, we had always dreamed of having at least one of our own, but didn’t know where to begin.

We didn’t know much how knives were made, who made them, what they might cost and how to tell the difference between various materials and finishes so we put out an Instagram story question box in late 2020 looking for some intel on how to choose good chef’s knives.

Sure, the first things that came through were Wüsthof, Zwilling, Victorinox, Global and Sabatier but a trickle of responses suggested buying direct from more small scale producers, some in Europe but others mentioned within Ireland.

We delved into the research and fell into a whole world we didn’t know existed of bladesmiths and knifemakers. Talented artisans who forged steel and worked in ferocious heat or with tools of incredible power (incredibly dangerous, in the wrong hands) and soon we found them squirrelled away all across the island, quietly honing their craft and refining their pieces without much fuss or fanfare.

We saw nowhere online — or in the wider press in Ireland — shining a spotlight on these bladesmiths so decided we would do it on our website (+ linked below)

What began as a couple of brief mentions became a bit of a directory, the only of its kind at the time, which listed these makers’ locations and what they specialised in as well as how often they were making, how long their waiting lists were and how you might get your hands on one of their pieces. This was slightly before the trend of knifemakers like Lew Griffin in Galway, Sam Dunn in West Cork and Hugo Byrne in Limerick running “Knife Drop” sales on their websites, batching up a number of knives and selling in a flash sale directly. Back then it was more a sign up to a waiting list until you get the nod to place a custom order — even in the few short years since the dial has shifted significantly.

So we caught the bug and slowly but surely we have added a knife on every year. Not that we use these knives every day — they require a certain level of care and consideration. So we interchange with more run of the mill knives here and there.

If you were every curious, here is a round-up of what we currently have on our metallic knife rack inside the door of one of our kitchen cupboards.

Dunn Bladeworks

We have been following Sam Dunn since 2021 and are enamoured by the craftsmanship, the colours and the diversity of his range. Based in Glengarriff, he suffered an injury in late 2024 which effectively rendered him out of the workshop and if memory serves us correct he didn’t believe he was going to make another knife for a long time but he forged one last piece in late 2024 and had a flash sale of just this one, super special, unplanned knife. We swooped and secured it as a Christmas present to ourselves (well, Patrick to Patrick, tbh) and even though dropping €550 on a single knife in a spur of the moment decision sounds crazy, the crazier thing is this one called to us.

A Gyuto is known as a Japanese take on western multi-purpose chef’s knife and this is a ‘Go-Mai’ style which means ‘multi-layered’, essentially layers of steel on top of each other. The specifications of this one are: 1.2519 High Carbon Core, Nickel layer and mild steel Jacket. It has a beautiful rich mahogany-coloured, mottled tortoiseshell handle which is like an oil painting to look at and has quite a wide, fat handle that tapers skinnier as it meets the blade. This feels like the star of our collection. Dunnbladeworks.com | @Dunn_Bladeworks

Colla Forge

A protegé of Fingal Ferguson, Luka Scannell was crafting stellar knives while still in secondary school as a 17 year-old working from a container in his parents’ garden in West Cork. Now in his early twenties and based between Dublin and Cork, his website has gone offline and his Instagram @CollaForge seems a little inactive so we’re not entirely sure whether he’s just quietly working away or in college. We truly treasure the bright yellow chef’s knife we bought from him in 2022 (it’s the bright yellow one in this very Instagram post), which was around €350/€400 if we remember correct. Yellow is Russell’s signature colour, so this is more a Russell knife than a Patrick knife and is incredibly light and easy on the wrist. We love the little embossed, intertwined CF logo on the blade, very striking, and this knife feels very ‘us’. @CollaForge

John Mosse

An Irish blacksmith and bladesmith with an MA in metal conservation now based in the beautiful Cotswolds in the UK, what’s interesting about John is that he is a freeman in the Worshipful Company of Cutlers, a form of rudimentary trade union dating back to the 1400s which is now run as a charity. The Mosse Knives original we have is a quite long bladed carbon steel one with a Hamon blade and a walnut handle. This is the kind of ceremonial unit that you have to whip out to wow guests when carving at the table, like at Christmas or Easter, or even delicatele slicing a whole side of wild salmon or trout. Full disclosure, John sent us this knife as a gift on the back of regularly featuring his work on our website and social media. @MosseKnives

Paddy Smyth

A former chef and skilled butcher-turned-bladesmith, Paddy Smyth has used a wide variety of knife style throughout his professional career, paired with an interest in bushcraft and camping, he crafts a diverse ranging of knives suitable for hunting and for kitchen use and is entirely self-taught. Based in Roscommon, he gifted us a knife in 2023 that is a beautiful, versatile, all-rounder chef’s knife and with utterly unique etchings on the blade. We also love the angle of the blade, which is quite prominent and large towards the handle but peters out to a very precise and sharp point at the blade’s end. smythknives.com | @Smyth_Knives

And the rest…

We use two IKEA knives religiously. A 20cm Vörda Cook’s Knife — stainless steel, 34cm in entire length and essentially IKEA’s dupe of German-style all-rounder chef’s knife — and a 16cm Vörda Vegetable Knife, made of molybdenum/vanadium stainless steel with divets along the knife edge, effectively a Santoku knife dupe. We use both interchangeably to be honest and both have a 15 year guarantee, are seamless to keep sharp with IKEA’s knife sharpener and both have that really nice, smooth, non-slip Polypropylene handle.

Finally, did you know TK Maxx is a fantastic outlet for proper knives? From Japanese brands to European ones and a range of lengths, styles and finishes, we know a couple of top chefs who swear by keeping a close eye on TK Maxx sotres and swooping on a bargain blade. We can’t for the life of us remember the exact model of the KAI knife we picked up in-store years ago, but we do use it daily and has lasted us three years in fantastic nick. It was something like €45.

Next on our chef’s knife list…

• Something about the flat, rectangular shape of a nakiri has always called us and that’s next on the list. We have had an eye out for about two years and been close to ordering one or two but either chickened out or got beat to the checkout in an online flash sale. One day.

• We have always wanted a colourful collection, so bright colours and unique handles and finishes are what we’re looking for.

• It feels like we should have a ‘paring’ knife, but we don’t ever really ‘pare’ anything to be honest. Should we prioritise? We’re not sure…

• A proper whetstone, we take pretty good care of our knives but we should be more methodical with their upkeep.