I must have missed this post on BlogTO this summer, it’s a list of the best places in Toronto to buy kitchen knives.

• Knife
• Fonseca Sharpening
• Nella Cucina
• The Cook’s Place
• The Internet Kitchen Store
• Healthy Butcher
• Nikolaou Restaurant Equipment
• Tap Phong
• High Tech
• Dinetz

The Globe and Mail has been showing videos of some basic cooking skills. This week is a video on basic knife skills.

J.A. Henckels, a long chef standard for knives, has introduced a new line of Japanese-construction knives. These are designed and made by J.A. Henckels Japan. There’s four lines of knives available ranging from the lower 5000 S series to the high end damascus 7000 D (pictured). It should be a nice knife to try and may compare favorably to Henckel’s “Professional S”, MAC or Globals.

Global Pro GP-14 Cook's Knife

I’ve posted previously about my favorite knives – Globals. However, there is a line of knives made by Global that is only available for the domestic Japan market called “Global-Pro“.

I had a friend send me one from Japan and it’s a beautiful knife. The blade comes to an extraordinary sharpness at the tip, shown off by a very shallow bezel before the knife edge. It’s something you have to see to appreciate.

Unfortunately, the blade selection is quite small. Only French chef style knives are represented, along with some utility knives and sushi/sashimi knives. A santoku is glaringly omitted.

I keep waiting for these knives to be made available domestically but it doesn’t look like it will happen soon. If you want to “upgrade” your Global set, go for the “GF” series of forged Global knives.

Alton Brown has teamed up with Shun knives to create a special line of knives with an angled handle. They are made with a Damascus steel look that is made of layered steel, similar to a japanese sword. The angled handle makes chopping a bit easier for beginners as it makes sure the knuckes on the handle-hand don’t hit the cutting board.

In the kitchen, I’ve used Global knives for many years. They are light, sharp and hold their edge really well. It all starts with the G-2 Cook Knife, a classic chef’s knife that can be used to cut anything. However, I like a straight bladed knife for vegetables so I also have a G-5 Vegetable Knife.

Lately, Santoku knives have been really gaining in popularity as “all-in-one” knives for everyday cooking. They have a much straighter edge like the vegetable knife but curves up a the tip like a chek knife. Many new santoku knives are “fluted” so that it’s harder for things to stick to the knife after you cut them.

Global knives are available at national stores like Williams Sonoma as well as local stores like Nella Cucina and Pepper Mill.

Images from Yoshikin Japan.

Leatherman just made available their new Skeletool and Skeletool CX multi-tools. Announced in October, they were not available for sale in any retailers until April.

The advantages of these models over their existing line is their very compact size. However, getting to a multitoll this thin means that many functions over their regular multi-tools. The Skeletools feature only one blade, no scissors and no file. However, they still do include a folding, lockable blade, pliers with wirecutters, a bottle opener and screwdriver. The only real missing item that would be useful is a can opener.