Your Favourite Chef’s Favourite Knife

A knife is as important to a chef as a car is to a Formula One driver. Without having a proper bit of kit in your hands, it’s borderline impossible to chop, dice, and slice your way through a lunch or dinner service. You don’t always have to have the most expensive knife available (we’ve already rounded up some of the Best Value Kitchen Knives) but it’s impossible to underestimate the importance of a good knife.

Buying a good set of knives is one of those first things that most serious chefs do when they come into a bit of money. It's a worthy investment to make considering that a blunt knife isn't just a liability in the kitchen but its downright dangerous when you're using it to do just about everything. Having a well-made knife, that's been sharpened properly, is one of the easiest ways to make cooking more enjoyable. To find out what some of the best of the best are using, I went and asked some of the best chefs in the UK what their go-to kitchen knife is.

From British chef knives like Clement Knives and Blenheim Forge to old faithful brands like Zwilling, these are some of the knives favourited by actual professional chefs. These are your favourite chef’s favourite knives.

"The Blenheim Forge Santoku is the most versatile of chef knives. The Santoku is a multi-use knife – a favourite of mine that can tackle a multitude of ingredients. It’s very comfortable in the hand, stays super sharp, and is easy to keep sharp. I have had mine for 10 years now – when choosing a good knife, you need to think of it as an investment.

Another great knife and a favourite of mine is the Clement Knives Nakiri. They use waste materials for the handles and gas canisters in the blade. A blade smith and a recycler transform plastic and metal waste into hand-forged knives. The knives are very comfortable to use and can lend themselves to most jobs."

Daniel is the chef and co-founder of Acme Fire Cult.

"My first pick is a black knife from Japanese brand Shan – this is a special knife as it’s a gift from my son Valentino for my 02/02 birthday. I use it very often, especially late in summer, when we have lots of produce available in the garden. At the moment we have lots of cucumbers growing - too many to be eaten in a salad! I usually pickle them and use them throughout the year for charcuterie boards or as a condiment. Cutting loads of cucumbers would normally be such a daunting task - but because this knife is so light and great for chopping vegetables, lengthy tasks like this one actually have a soothing effect on me! One thing I should mention is that in Italy it’s considered bad luck to gift knives, and they should not be given as a gift as the knife's blade supposedly 'cuts the ties between the gift giver and the gift's receiver’ - unless the knife is accompanied by a coin. When Valentino gave me the knife it came with a 20p coin!

Another knife I can’t live without is my Swiss knife Victorinox. There’s a funny story behind it - every year my mum holidays in Calabria, a sunny region in southern Italy located at the 'toe' of the Italian peninsula; every year, on her way back to Umbria she has this little tradition and stops at a street vendor on this beautiful coastal highway to buy me one of these Victorinox knives. There’s something magical about this knife - it’s always sharp! I use it for boning poultry on the menu at Lina Stores!"

Masha is the head chef of Lina Stores.

"I’ve been using this knife for more than 15 years. It’s an incredible mix of knife engineering, engineered in German but crafted in Japan using their amazing blade craftsmanship. There’s no question about its quality, but what I like most is the handle; it’s ergonomic, efficient, and really well balanced. The Cermax knife I own is 8 inches long, which means that it feels like an extension of your hand and as a chef, you still feel connected to the tip of the knife. That’s an important point for a home chef, too – a knife shouldn’t be too long, you should still feel as though it’s part of your hand when you pick it up. This knife is so versatile, it works for so many tasks. It’ll end up being your go-to for so much of your preparation and cooking."

Yohei is the head chef of Toklas.

"I have many great kitchen knives, each with their own character and use, but my favourite has to be our distinctive restaurant knife. They are made by Joel Black and I love the weight and feel of the metal. They have been designed really well and sit beautifully in your hand.”

Johnnie is the executive head chef at Restaurant St. Barts.

"I don’t have loads of knives. I have good knives for specific purposes but nothing extravagant. My favourite knife is a gigantic forged Global chef's knife. It’s far too big and heavy for most jobs but it’s my favourite knife more for the memories rather than its actual usefulness. It was given to me by the owner of the first restaurant that I worked at in Italy. She was an amazing character and I used to take care of her dog Über. He was a big dog and I would cook food for him every day using leftover food from the restaurant. She bought me this knife to say thank you for taking care of him. I don’t really need to use it very often but when I do it reminds me of them and the exciting times at the beginning of my career."

Jonny is the chef and co-founder of Trivet.

"My favourite knife to work with now must be my chef’s knife made by Florentine Kitchen Knives in Tel Aviv. What I really like about the knife is the unique handle made from different materials such as wood, leather and micarta. All these materials together make a very nice firm handle with great grip. Besides the fact that the knife is incredibly beautiful, it has a great blade made of Sandvik high carbon stainless steel. I can use this knife for some of the most delicate jobs such as chopping fine herbs but it’s also brilliant when filleting a large fish."

Oded is the chef and owner of Oren.

"I have a Funayuki knife from Blenheim Forge, it’s light, easy to sharpen and beautiful. Funayuki was traditionally used for prepping fish, but is actually a very versatile shape of knife and can be used for meat and vegetables too. I’ve been using it pretty much every day since I got it 3 years ago. We held a staff sharpening class and tour of their workshop with them recently as well. What amazes me about Blenheim Forge is that pretty much everything they do in there is all made from scratch by them!"

Shuko is the chef and co-founder of Koya.

"I use a knife called ‘Battleship’ by Takayuki Shibata. I love this knife because it’s an all-rounder - it’s able to cut vegetables, filet fish, bone large pieces of meat, and yet it’s still able to cut fine herbs and deal with small birds such as quail. I also like the Takayuki approach to knives: 'I design my knives for function, not for looks.' My all-time favourite."

Peter is the head chef at Decimo at The Standard, London and chef patron at Paco Tapas in Bristol.

"My favourite knife is the 240mm Misono UX10. It’s incredible – razor-sharp edge, perfect balance, very light thin blade and super strong steel!"

Ben is the Executive Chef at The Colony Grill Room at The Beaumont Hotel.