Kirkland bladesmith and Epicurean Edge owner cuts to the chase on all things “knife.”
SURGERY, RATATOUILLE and a man’s smooth chin all have something in common — they are made possible by a razor sharp edge. Blades have come a long way from the flint knives of our cave-dwelling ancestors. Stone and bone gave way to malleable metals, forged in fire to increase their hardness.
Bladesmith Daniel O’Malley, owner of the downtown Kirkland shop The Epicurean Edge, possesses such a deep reservoir of knife knowledge that were his finger to be nicked, he might bleed steel.
But for a man who has such passion for sharp, potentially dangerous objects, he’s just about as amiable as they come. There’s laughter on his breath as he explains how a psych grad student from upstate New York ended up as president of what’s widely known as the “knife mecca of the west.”
“It was one of those things I was just always fascinated by,” say O’Malley. “I’ve definitely noticed that with knives in particular, some people are immediately captured by it and other folks just don’t get it. I was one of those people who was always fascinated by it.”
After college, O’Malley had enough financial success from his position as a database architect to take a few years off and figure out what he really wanted to do with his life. An acquaintance named Bob Kramer had just received the certification of Master Bladesmith when O’Malley approached him about an apprenticeship.
“It was one of those things where it was just perfect timing,” says O’Malley.
He apprenticed with Kramer for 2½ years before continuing moving on to the American Bladesmith Society’s Texarkana College in Arkansas. Over time he worked with several other masters including, most notably, mastersmith Bill Burke.
American knife-makers are generally hunters looking for a way to make a better edge. O’Malley approaches knives from a love of cooking, deciding not to pursue accreditation through the A.B.S. because “it doesn’t really apply to kitchen knives.”
Though the selection of high quality knives at The Epicurean Edge is unrivaled except perhaps by Korin in New York City, it is the respect for the craft that is particularly impressive. Customers can grip a beautiful handmade knife and look up on the wall to see a photo of the actual Japanese bladesmith who forged it.
Or they can shake hands with O’Malley, a bladesmith himself. Though, if you’re in the market for an O’Malley knife, patience is necessary. He currently has a nine-year waiting list for one of his custom blades, producing a knife about every three weeks.
And an original, one-of-a-kind piece carries an equally one-of-a-kind price tag. But it is hard not to think of these amazing exhibition-grade knives as treasured heirlooms. O’Malley assures that his knives could last hundreds of years if properly cared for.
O’MALLEY IS probably best known around Seattle as a knife-sharpener. Customers have sent him their knives for sharpening from as far away as Australia. “I’d say we sharpen for the vast majority of better chefs in the area,” O’Malley saysk his mild manner betraying not even a hint of arrogance.
And maybe that’s the key to his success. Sure, he sharpens the blades that cut the food at your favorite restaurant. But he also takes care of your neighbor’s lawn mower blade, an archeologist’s shovel, a home-cook’s $5 knife from Target, and an axe or two.
After years of practice, O’Malley can sharpen a knife in 15-30 minutes. Maintaining the proper angle to within half of a degree for 1,000-1,500 strokes takes immense skill.
“I think its funny,” says O’Malley, “because on a certain level, knife sharpening isn’t rocket science. I’m literally standing there rubbing a piece of metal up against rocks. It is as low tech as you can get in a lot of ways. That said, just like playing a musical instrument, there’s a lot of muscle memory involved.”
When asked if the home-cook should sharpen a knife with the poplar pull-through sharpeners, he simply states, “None of the pull-through systems do good things to knives.” Best case scenarios may bring the knife back to 60-70% of the original, but more often than not it is recurving your blade, grinding a dip that can only be corrected by a professional removing a lot of steel from the knife’s edge.
Using a ceramic hone, slowly draw your knife down the hone at a near vertical angle every three hours of use.
Honing your knife at too big of an angle (more than 17 degrees) can damage your knife.
Sharpening stones are the best way to go, but what home-cook wants to put in the hours necessary to learn the proper way to sharpen a knife when it only needs done about once a year?
O’Malley speculates on the type of person who might want to learn, saying, “It’s for the person who says, ‘I really enjoy the ownership of being able to [sharpen] my knives. There’s something that makes me excited about the idea that I can change my dull knives and make them sharp.’ Enough so that you also say, ‘You know what, I’m going to get my neighbor’s knives and fix them, too.’ It has to come from that inner excitement of wanting to do it rather than just wanting sharp knives.”
O’Malley teaches knife-care classes at several area culinary schools throughout the year and shares some major tips.
“The thing that I think is really important for people to do at home, and I can’t stress this enough, is using a good ceramic honing rod,” says O’Malley.
Most of us have a metal rod that probably came with a knife set, an inexpensive way for knife manufacturers to increase the perceived value of a set. However, O’Malley is adamant that ceramic is the only way to go.
Honing rods don’t sharpen a knife. However, when a knife cuts through an object, it’s microscopic wire edge can sometimes fold over on itself. Within 2-5 hours of use, that knife edge may be bent up to 20 degrees. Properly honing the blade brings that edge back to true.
Neglecting to hone the knife for 4-10 hours of use can cause upwards of 40 degrees of folding, making it virtually impossible to straighten. The only option is to have the knife sharpened by a professional at that point.
“Realistically,” O’Malley says, “95% of people who cook at home probably never use the honing rod and of those five percent that do use it, probably 95% use it wrong.”
HE AND HIS staff at The Epicurean Edge are always ready to demonstrate proper honing practices to customers, a skill that will double a knife’s sharpness longevity.
In addition, the type of cutting board surface is vitally important. Glass and marble should never be used because they are just too hard for a knife’s delicate edge. Plastic boards, popularized in the 1970’s by the Health Department’s restaurant sanitation decrees, aren’t any more sanitary then wood. In fact, the cuts that begin to crisscross a plastic board’s surface can harbor bacteria that is difficult to clean, even with a commercial dishwasher.
Bamboo and end-grain cherry or maple boards are ideal surfaces on which to cut, providing a homogeneous hardness and are naturally bacteria-resistant.
“Anyone treating their board reasonably appropriately,” says O’Malley, “will be alright. We’re not all keeling over from food poisoning so that tells me it is a non-issue.”
He recommends a very few essential knives for the home-cook including a primary chef’s knife, a paring knife for detail work, and a six inch slicing knife for cutting through proteins. Beyond those three, it comes down to things like whether a person slices a lot of bread or frequently fillets fish.
The Epicurean Edge opened in Kirkland in 2003, making it practically ancient by downtown business standards.
“It is strange when you walk down the street and there are like two places in the entire block that have been here the same duration that we have,” he quips.
But O’Malley really likes Kirkland, particularly taking walks on the waterfront after a long day of paperwork. “I like having the farmer’s market, too. It’s awesome!” he says of Kirkland’s Wednesday Market right behind his shop.
He speculates that many business owners think that they can just open a shop by the waterfront and mobs of people will flock by the shop and walk right through the door to buy their “widget”.
“I think that you need to make a good enough ‘widget’ that people are specifically coming to Kirkland to buy it.”
O’Malley also is enjoying the appearance of new restaurants in Kirkland.
“Milagro shows a lot of promise,” he says, adding that Trellis has shown that Kirkland can support a high-end restaurant. He sang the praises of Le Grand Bistro chef Scott Emerick. “Scott’s pedigree is incredible.”
Coming from the man who knows and has probably eaten the food of most local chefs, his opinion should count.
So whether you’re in the market for a professional sushi knife, your two-year-old Global needs some upkeep, or you just have a burning desire to talk about all things “blade,” Daniel O’Malley is the person you need to see.
More Reporter Julie articles can be found at
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What makes a great cookie? Is it chocolate and butter? Or maybe you are a molasses and raisins type of cookie eater. Perhaps you prefer a bit of the islands, so coconut tickles your fancy. Well, this cookie has it all. It is chewy, rich, sweet, and even has a little fiber! What could be [...]
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