CERTAIN PEOPLE TAKE PRIDE setting a table with their finest cutlery. To them, pride and enjoyment is a way of life. They do not use their French cutlery rarely or for one special occasion. They use it every day.
Since those days of Robin Hood, Europeans excelled forging steel blades. Their knowledge and expertise with blades were passed on to utensils they use on their table every day. French and their cutlery could not be an exception to centuries-old European traditions.
This article is about three manufacturers that forge magnificent cutlery. One makes knives, forks, spoons, and utensils used 'after' a meal is served. The other makes knives of exquisite quality for preparing a meal 'before' it is served. Are sets and individual pieces costly? Yes, they are; but they last more than a lifetime. Decisively, these pieces are worth the cost to a family or a couple or a single person to delight in the best that French Artisans, their traditions, their steel, their woods, and their pains-taking details have to offer.
» Laguiole makes sets that dress up any table every day. The details, balance, weight, and handling each piece spells top-notch quality in every detail. One can tell the message they send when guests hold one in their hand and keep on looking at it for a while. It is because they are holding a unique piece, and likely, a conversation arises out of these pieces that make a table elegant, refined, and graceful.
» Sabatier makes knives for chefs and gourmets from around the world. Their quality is so exceptional that a reputable American School of Cooking chose to exclusively use their knives. Experts who pass their knowledge and expertise on to new generations of cooks and gourmets must know why they do not use anything else.
» If one has family get-together at the park ~or a picnic with a sweet-heart~ French Artisans have knives for such occasions. Opinel knives are so well thought-out that in 1985 they were recognized ~along with Porsche 911 and Rolex watches~ as one of '100 of the best designed objects in the world' at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In the XXI century, Opinel sells one of their well-regarded knives throughout the world every 10 seconds.
You now know about finesse on your table, in the kitchen, and in the park.
