Folding knife for food or use in restaurants

[Brock O Lee]

A couple of times I have been caught out at restaurants where the serrated steak knives provided were as about as effective as a butter knife.
We have knife laws that would allow someone to take in public a knife with a reasonable excuse. That would include food prep. The smaller Spyderco knives mentioned would not turn heads, but they are of course pretty small. Whipping out any currently available @ 4 inch Spidie would turn some heads (here in Oz anyway).
I would be less concerned if the knife was something like a Victorinox Swiss Classic Foldable Paring Knife. I have no experience with this model, but I am sure it would be fine. Four inches and serrated.
(Please delete my message if I am breaking rules over posting a non-Spyderco).

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These are sweet! I have a few that usually come with us on holiday.

Yes, sadly in Aus with our strict knife laws, I do not have confidence to whip out a pocket knife in public.

[Ramonade]

For Restaurants I either use a Tenacious LW SE or an Endela SE. Sometimes, when it's a nice restaurant, I take a GB2.

[Synov]

If a folding knife can't cut food well, it's probably not a very good knife. Serrations do keep the knife sharp after many uses, which is why they are often seen in restaurants, but if you know how to keep your knife sharp, they aren't necessary.

OK Part 1) Find better restaurants where they know how to cook and plate food. I'm struggling with the picture of a place just tossing a half cut up pizza on the table.

It's pretty common in Italy to be served a small Neapolitan pie uncut, to be eaten with a knife and fork.

[TkoK83Spy]

I'm just going to go ahead and say it...buy you a PE and SE Z Cut knife and a couple small slips to put them in, and have your wife bring them to dinner with you in her purse. Then, if you encounter some substandard cutlery from the restaurant, you already have these ready to go. It would also look a little more "classy" I guess I would say, when out at an establishment for lunch or dinner than pulling a folder out of your pocket.

[Skar]

Glad I’m not the only one.
I use what I’m carrying but a longer blade and a salt are preferred. If food does get in the pivot it’s easier to wash it out and not think about it.

Though that doesn’t happen often, se does cut easily especially for steak or bread, Not required as a sharp knife should hold up to a plate of food.

[Michael Janich]

Hey, All:

Thanks for the cool discussion. In my opinion, the more we use knives for normal tasks, the more normal knife use remains. It also reminds us of the very tangible difference in performance between a good, sharp knife and a dull one. I think this is particularly important as we get older. Before my Mom passed, she would struggle to cut food when we went to restaurants. Part of it was that she had always "gotten by" with crappy knives and excessive force. As she became more frail, she couldn't muscle her way through the meat. I showed her that better technique didn't require much force, but she was stubborn, so ultimately I cut her food for her. A smarter solution is better tools and better technique now that serves you well later.

My go-to food knife is my left-pocket Yojimbo 2. The one in the right pocket is reserved for a very different type of meat...

Stay safe,

Mike

[KeepCalm&Carrion]

I don't imagine I'd ever whip out my own folder at a restaurant, but if I did I think I'd want something like a serrated Caribbean with the handles blacked-out.

If I was working in a kitchen or buying a folder with heavy food-prep in mind, then I'd go with a purpose-driven knife like the Chef model.

For me personally, the folding knife I turn to the most for food on the trail or at camp is a SE Pacific H2, which isn't the optimum choice but I need it to be more of an all-arounder. The Native Chief Salt might be displacing that one, though.

[vivi]

if one of my line cooks were prepping food with a folder I'd ask him how high he got before his shift

[cjk]

lots of belly and serrated? Serrated Ayoob maybe? Where's @JD Spydo ?

[bobnikon]

They may not be Spydies, but for a combination of effectiveness and some disguise from prying eyes, it's hard to beat either a stainless Opinel or Laguiole. I guess it's no surprise the French have folding knives geared towards eating :)

You have a good point here - food prep is one of the tasks that would profit if Spyderco made (more and more pronounced in that direction) LONG bladed folders with THINNER stock (something Opinel definitely offers).

insert shameless plug for Chapstein, Wartarral, or just Chappie XL

I don't mind pulling out a nice knife to cut something with if the cutlery offered isn't up to the task. My wife rolls her eyes.

But it is the same at work. I work in an office environment, and have been asked repeatedly why I always have one clipped in my pocket. My response fluctuates in between "why don't you" and "ask me again, when you ask to borrow it".

Why not use a better tool if you have it available?

[Vamais]

When invited to another person's house where I know I'll be helping with food prep, I usually bring my LC200N Catcherman. Almost always works better than what they have.

At home doing food prep I usually just use what I have in my pocket, which for the last few months has been a K390 Lil' Temperance. Usually I'm cutting vegetables, cheese, or bread, or opening packages. I almost never use a cutting board (I just cut in the air or do paring type cuts), because it is nicer on edges and (more importantly) reduces the amount of dishes I have to clean. When cutting anything juicy and cleaning the blade afterward, I take care to not get liquids in the pivot area.

[vivi]

I don't know how people can stand doing food prep at home using a knife without knuckle clearance. As a chef, to me that'd be like clearing trails with a Delica.



This $10 Kiwi 21 will outcut just about any knife out there, especially the ones mentioned in this thread.

It's basic ~55rc mystery stainless will hold a seriously sharp edge for 6 months easily with normal daily home use on a dreaded composite cutting board. Especially if you scrape food off with the spine and not the apex.

If I'm going to a friends / parents / girlfriends house to cook I just use a Victorinox chefs knife in a blade safe:



On the hiking trail or at a restaurant is one thing. But the resistance to using the right tool for the job in the house is just weird. Knife nerds espouse right tool for the job when it comes to chopping, fileting fish, hunting game and slicing cardboard, but for some reason that logic gets discarded when it comes to culinary purposes.

If I do carry a knife with the intention of using it for food prep, I don't pick something with a negative blade angle. Positive blade angle is better, neutral is second, negative is worst. Pretty much always PE as they work better for the majority of food prep tasks.

Something like this beats out a folder in every aspect (price, performance, weight etc.) except maybe ease of carry.



Out of my folders I like Buck 110's and Opinels the best for fireside food prep at the camp site,but if I'm doing anything more than quartering an apple chances are I'm using one of my fixed blades.

[Scandi Grind]

At home, I agree with Vivi. I can't make 20 servings of beef and vegetable soup with my Endura, ha ha! At restaurants I have only ever used my pocket knife to open a plastic package, never used it on food. I probably wouldn't have kept it clean enough to really want to. If I am traveling I will bring a paring knife at a minimum, and usually I pack my Chinese Cleaver so that I don't have to deal with dull kitchen knives at any place that I stay. I also pack a small cutting board so that my knife stays sharp.

[spydergoat]

@vivi where did you aquire that paring knife sheath?

[James Y]

I don't eat at restaurants much anymore, and when I did, I never ordered something like a steak. I haven't eaten a steak since the early '80s, and a tough steak would be one of the main things I'd imagine a truly sharp knife night be needed for in a restaurant.

At home, I only do food prep with my Victorinox knives: the santoku, paring knife, fruit knife, and utility knives.

Only on rare occasions do I cut food with my folders. At home occasionally, for the fun of it, I'll slice up some fruit. But the V-nox kitchen knives are far superior at food prep than any folder.

Jim

[OV1kenobi]

I have had the rare occasion to have to resort to using my Endura 4 PE in VG-10 in a restaurant. It worked just fine. I used a wet napkin to wipe off the blade and when I got home a few passes on the Sharpmaker and it was good.

Because there are no blade length restrictions where I live, if some Karen or Chad gets the “oogies” if I have to use one of my knives as a tool in public, then too bad. They need to grow up and can go pound sand for all I care.

[vivi]

@vivi where did you aquire that paring knife sheath?

shadow tech hiker sheath that I repurposed with my heat gun.

[Evil D]

lots of belly and serrated? Serrated Ayoob maybe? Where's @JD Spydo ?

Can confirm, the Ayoob is an excellent steak knife.

[Evil D]

At home I use my MagnaCut mule as my dedicated steak or dinner knife in general, if I'm eating and it needs cut, that's what I use. It's probably the longest running test I've ever done on a single knife, I've used it pretty much everyday since they came out.

For restaurants we typically don't eat out much and when we do it's usually not places that need a knife. We stopped going to steak houses and started making our own steaks at home. Once I really looked at the difference in cost I think I've only stepped foot in a steak house one time in the last year and I was on a business trip. But if I did feel the need and if I had to pick a knife based on this criteria, I'd probably go with a SE MagnaCut Chief Salt.

Reasons being, it's easy to clean and even disassemble if necessary, but I think having a finger choil for food use with a folder has an advantage because it limits how close you can get the pivot to the food, the same could be said about a ricasso so you'd do well with a Pacific too. Serrations because ceramic plates aren't kind to knife edges and steak houses use serrations for the same reason, and MagnaCut because it'll resist corrosion and will hold up to the plate contact.

I think a Police 4 would also excel here but you'd need to be more mindful of cleaning it before putting it away. Good argument here for a Police 4 Salt

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I use my Enduras to make hot dog sandwiches. Cut the frankfurters length wise, heat them up, serve on bread or tortilla or lettuce. Delicious.