The knife I use every single day

Customers often ask me what knives I use at home.

I could rattle off the knives in my personal collection, but unless you've already got a good handle on Japanese kitchen knives, you probably won't know what I'm talking about when I list off things like a Fujiwara Denka Gyuto, a Denka Petty, Ashi Hamono Swedish Gyutos, a Yoshikane SLD Damascus Santoku, an Aritsugu Nakiri, a Kikumori Choyo Ginsan Kiritsuke Petty, blah blah blah...

And if you do know what I'm talking about, I'd just be bragging about the collection I've put together over 14 years in the knife industry and 10 years as a professional cook, and you'd probably just want me to shut up.

So here's the simple answer: the knife that gets the most use in my house is a petty knife.

A petty knife is a Japanese utility knife. The word "petty" comes from "petite." A little larger than a typical paring knife, these knives usually have narrow blades between 4 and 7 inches that can handle a variety of tasks with ease. I use them for cutting fruits, smaller vegetables, and dicing or slicing small pieces of meat and fish.

Specifically, mine is a Togiharu VG10 Hammered Damascus petty knife with a western-style faux-mahogany handle. It's not something we carry at the shop - I bought it years before Uptown existed - but the steel and the size are exactly why I keep coming back to it.

My petty knife making quick work of an apple.

I bought the knife in 2010 while working as a line cook at Prospect, a restaurant in San Francisco. My chef had invited the famed New York knife store Korin to do a sharpening demo and pop-up shop at the restaurant, so I splurged and bought it. I think it cost about $100, which was probably the most I had ever spent on a knife up until that point. But I really needed a good knife to cut small proteins and other foods during service, and because it was small, it didn't crowd my tiny station like my bigger chef's knife did. It has proven to be worth every penny, and more, in the 16 years I've used it.

I really put it through its paces, and discovered my love for VG10 steel, which I found to have great edge retention and toughness. I would cut and separate ribs, chicken joints, crispy fried foods, and it would still be sharp enough to peel and segment citrus and thinly slice garlic and shallots.

In 2013 I stopped working in restaurants, and my work knives became home knives. The Togiharu petty has basically lived on our cutting board ever since.

I love that it's a knife that I don't have to baby, fuss over or worry about. If it gets dropped or left wet, I don't care. I'll just sharpen it again! I've sharpened it so much that I've had to 'thin' it 2-3 times. (Thinning a knife means grinding down the sides so the edge returns to its original thinness again.) It's become a sentimental tool for me, and it's taken a form that only a tool that's been used for 15 years can.

I don't carry that exact knife anymore, but we do stock petty knives that hold to years of use just like mine has. It's always a great knife to add to one's collection, or as a gift to an avid chef that already has their larger workhorses.

Here are a few from the shop that I recommend:

• Tsunehisa 440C 150mm Petty Damascus Nashiji – Uptown Cutlery
• Touroku Sakai Kirameki 150mm Petty - 69 Layer Damascus Tsuchime – Uptown Cutlery
• Tsunehisa AUS8 Migaki 150mm Petty – Uptown Cutlery
• Touroku Sakai Ginsan Nashiji 135mm Petty – Uptown Cutlery
• Takeshi Saji VG10 130mm Petty - Cross Tsuchime Red Micarta – Uptown Cutlery
• Ikkaku Bessaku 120mm Petty – Uptown Cutlery

If you want help picking a petty knife that fits how you actually cook, reply to this email and I'll help you find the right one.

- Sam

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