When I first moved to New York, many years ago now, my mother sent me an ad from the New York Times for a sale at a kitchen supply store by the name of Bridge Dishes. My Nana had always shopped there, and she had told my mother when she was first married that it was the best place to begin to outfit her kitchen, and so when I had my first apartment my mother suggested that I go there for their annual sale and begin my kitchen planning. The ad showed some specific special sales, and one of them was for a set of Sabatier knives. If I remember rightly they were $19.99 which was to me at that time a fortune. I was working at the Circle Repertory Company as an intern making $60 per week and though my hours were long I had another part time job helping Harold Taylor, the then retired former President of Sarah Lawrence, in his home office whenever I could fit it in. My rent in those days was $390 per month. It had started at $350 when I first moved in and then went up slowly from there. I was subletting a room in a Co-Op owned by someone I had known since childhood, who I had met in modern dance class in Boston in a class that was taught by a former dancer from Alvin Ailey. I started that class when I was three years old because my sister had wanted to take ballet and they wouldn't allow children my age to begin until our muscles and bones had formed more solidly, so they recommended modern dance which for some reason was much more child friendly. Years later when I was planning to move to New York I started contacting everyone and anyone I knew who might know of an apartment, and when I called this long ago friend from dance class who had moved to New York for college she had a room in a Co-Op that was just coming open when I needed it.
When my mother suggested I go to Bridge Dishes and sent me the ad, I honestly don't remember if I walked there or took the subway. In those days my finances were so tight that I walked everywhere I could, a habit that I've continued to this day and that helps me to stay healthy in mind and body and spirit and also gives me a wonderful sense of the places where I live. Walking shows me things that other people who live in areas their whole lives don't know about. I discover beautiful things and wonderful shops and interesting people and places. I seem to remember taking the subway to Bridge Dishes, and I bought the set of Sabatier knives and a wonderful yellow orange Hall covered casserole dish. I also bought at least one wooden spoon that I still have and have used for nearly everything I've cooked for all these years.
The Sabatier knives were beautiful to me when I bought them. We'd never really had great cooking knives in my home growing up, and having something that was known to be made with a history of excellence for Chefs and home cooks to enjoy was a pleasure that made my own forays into the world of culinary art something that was much more than just dabbling. I had decided when I first moved to New York that either I'd have to learn to cook or I'd be eating ramen noodles all day every day which wouldn't keep me healthy or happy for very long. I knew how to make a few things, namely omelets, chili, guacamole, and chocolate mousse, I could bake bread and make cookies sometimes, depending on the recipe, and I could experiment with tomato sauce made with canned tomatoes. It was definitely a start, and so I began to ask my mother for recipes of things I wanted to make, and I relied on a cook book my father gave me, the Joy of Cooking, to give me the necessary details I needed like cooking times and temperatures and how to handle certain vegetables, meats and fish. Looking back on it now it seems like an impossibility that I could have learned as much as I have over these years, but somehow, even with my limited time, I found cooking to be very nurturing and relaxing, and even if I came home very late from the theater I'd take the time to cook something or make something that was healthy and enjoyable. Friends shared recipes with me, I'd ask Chefs and people I met how to make certain things I'd tasted, and everywhere I went I had my eyes open to try new things. When I discovered Chinatown one day I thought I'd made my way into a magical new world and I bought so many things that I could barely carry all the bags home.
The Sabatier knives I'd bought at Bridge Dishes were a set of three, one paring knife, one slicing knife and one carving knife. I didn't use the slicing knife as much as the other two which I used fairly constantly, and then one day several years later when I was preparing steak that had been in the freezer, I went to cut into it and the carving knife chipped. There was no way to use it that way, and I didn't know what to do, so I contacted Bridge Dishes and they gave me the information for the company that was located in France. I sent the knife off with a note describing what had happened and asking if there was any way to repair it, and then one day a few weeks later I received a box in the mail with a brand new and much more professional looking, perfectly crafted carving knife along with a note that explained to me very politely and kindly that the knife I had been using was a counterfeit, and that because of their pride in their family company and history they were sending me a real one to show me how excellent they really are.
After that I was a fan for life, and I always planned one day to purchase more knives from them to make up a set, but my finances were still very low and the paring knife I had worked well enough, and then a friend gave me a smaller kitchen knife as a gift that was made by a good company, so I left well enough alone and used what I had gratefully until a few weeks ago when the paring knife broke as I was cutting an apple for my breakfast one morning. It was completely unexpected and I wasn't sure what to do because I had looked online for Sabatier knives a few years ago and the only place that seemed to carry authentic ones was the company I'd written to years before in France. I looked the company up and there they were, but before contacting them I asked a Chef I know who I think is the best in all that he does f he could recommend anything. He gave me some helpful advice and I explained my whole story and history and admiration for Sabatier and he encouraged me to go ahead and treat myself to what I wanted. I wrote a note to Sabatier, and they sent me to their website, and in all honesty I could have bought everything on it because they are so well made and beautiful. But I also know that though I have learned so much about cooking so many things over all these years I really only use two knives regularly with a few others on occasion, and as I had the carving knife still, and I have an excellent bread knife, I decided to select a paring knife and a small kitchen knife along with a sharpening whetstone, something that I have always wanted. I have a feeling that I may choose more in the future, but for now I am giving myself time to enjoy the two knives I have received. The paring knife is a vintage carbon steel with a wengue wood handle from the 1960's and the kitchen knife is also wood handled and made with stainless steel in the company's heritage style. I'm getting used to using them, and as with all things that are made with excellence it feels as if I've had them for much longer. They fit well in my hand and feel comfortable to hold, and they make my kitchen tasks a joy.
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