The dishie who called me out on my knife sharpening

I had this kid working the pit in a busy spot in Austin last summer. After a Friday night rush he just looked at my blade and goes "Chef, that's a butter knife not a chef knife." I was about to brush him off but he pulled out this beat up King 1000 stone from his bag and walked me through his process. Honestly I thought I knew how to sharpen but after 10 minutes with that stone I finally understood what a burr actually felt like. Anyone else ever get schooled by someone way younger on a basic skill?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennyp1920d ago

Did you end up keeping that King stone? I bought one a few years ago after a line cook showed me the exact same thing. Same deal, younger kid, beat up stone, totally humbled me in like five minutes. I thought I was doing fine with those pull-through sharpeners but that was a joke after feeling a real burr. Now I’m that weirdo who sharpens everyone’s knives during slow shifts, just passing along what I learned.

simonl1120d ago

Funny how that works though. You get humbled by a kid with a beat up stone and suddenly you're the one passing it along to others. There's something about those moments where someone half your age just casually shows you a better way that sticks with you way longer than any YouTube tutorial ever could. Makes me wonder how many other things we're all doing wrong just because nobody ever took the time to show us the real way. That whole cycle of getting knocked down a peg then turning around and helping the next person is probably one of the healthiest things that happens in kitchens. You ever notice how the best cooks are always the ones who got shown the ropes by someone who didn't act like a gatekeeper about it?