Town Cutler Pro Knife Shop Opens in Nob Hill

Grid View

• A custom knife display by metal artist Oliver DiCicco adorns the left wall. The 9-foot-long butcher block sits at the center for testing knifes.
• The logo on the window and website was designed by Craig Frazier, who has designed for postal stamps for the USPS and has work SF MOMA's permanent collection.

There's a big disconnect between the caliber of chefs and the caliber of retail knife supplies in these parts. Over the past 8 years, as chef Galen Garretson worked with the likes of Michael Tusk, Tyler Florence and the Rosenthal brothers, he noticed this. Enter Town Cutler, Garretson's one-week-old Nob Hill retail cutlery and knife sharpening shop, selling top Japanese brands like Kikuichi, Masamoto, Misono and Zanmai along with tweezers, saucing spoons and such. The only other shop that even comes close to offering this is Le Sanctuaire, which has odd hours and uneven supplies, so this is much appreciated.

On the knife-sharpening side of things, Garretson uses the classic method, starting with a 1,000-grit Japanese whetstone wheel and finishing with a 10,000-grit handheld whetstone, then polishing it all up with a leather razor strap—just like mom used to use.

For the collectors out there, Town Cutler has vintage knives for sale. And for the knife geeks, there will be skills workshops and butchering classes. Check the newly live website for more on all this.