As long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of a sharp knife. My dad, a former butcher, taught me to sharpen knives, starting around age 6. We used his sharpening stone on weekend ...

I’ve used hundreds of knives—in culinary school, in professional kitchens, and now at home as the resident chef—and I can tell you that the real magic isn’t always in the knife so much as in the ...