Torino Italy: So there was this knife

So as most of my friends know, I really like food. Actually, it's pretty obvious if you've been following this blog. So when here in Italy, my only frustration was not having a knife to chop and cut with. I was looking for a particular knife that I read about, and since I also like collecting a few different types of knives, I felt that my next one had to be a Japanese Santoku knife.

Whilst walking towards the cell phone shop, I found this crazy knife store. The display was magnificent, and it was nothing but knives in that display. Eventually I worked up enough courage to walk in.

Here's the inside of the store, I was really set on looking for a decent knife, and when the owner noticed me looking, he told me that all his good knives are not out on display!

I eventually got to chatting with Michael, and I found out a lot about this store. It's been around since 1929, and it was started by his great grand father. It managed to survive the bombings during WW2 and it still stand today! Michael is the 3rd generation owner and this humble shop supplies knives to almost all the chefs in Torino. He's also very knowledgeable in all the different knives here and knew exactly what I was looking for.

Here are some pots and some juicers.

Another shot of the exterior of the store.

And this baby is what I brought home. It's a Kyocera Ceramic knife. Initially, I didn't know that Kyocera made knives and I was skeptical, but then I found out the Kyocera stood for Kyoto Ceramics. So they've been around long enough to know how to handle ceramic.

I sprung for the black blade because it looked soo good. There was a white one, but the black one just looked cooler, even though it was more expensive. I was reading that the black blade is a bit more durable than the white one, but if I were really honest with myself, it's not worth the premium. It's a great knife for cutting and it's ludicrously sharp. I have a Henkel's Miyabi 6" at home and I found that this was even sharper (which I thought was impossible). I was able to slice artichokes and leeks with little to no effort nor sawing. It was incredible. You don't need to use a honing steel on it before you use it. The biggest knock I have against it is that although ceramic is super hard, it's super brittle. It has very little ductility at all. I saw some people dropping it, but I want to make sure that this knife doesn't chip its blade (there's a $10 sharpening service available for the life of the knife).The tip is rounded, which would probably get broken off anyways. In the instruction booklet says that it's really only meant for veggies and boneless meats. If you twist it, it'll most likely break. I've also read that someone broke it cutting a hard cheese (like Parmesan). Thus, I'm more careful when using this knife than I am with my 8" at home.
Verdict: It's a crazy sharp knife and makes chopping and slicing a joy. However, don't expect it to be your only knife. It really needs to be pampered, so don't get it if you don't like pampering.

Just look at that blade!! Simply gorgeous.