Kittery, Maine. November 2018. Josh Peterson is the chef behind The Press Room in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A unique and established music venue and restaurant with a menu that reads like a pub newspaper, but involves beautifully layered labor-intensive scratch cooking that doesn't disappoint.
So when Josh reached out to me to customize a Tanaka 300mm Lefty Damascus Yanagiba that he’d been drooling over, I had to do it up proper. Alike many of my clients we worked together on the materials, but what makes this custom so unique are the Russian influences.
Throughout the process, Josh mentioned that his wife is Russian. So I thought it would be cool if he had the opportunity to take her spirit with him, right into the kitchen. The results were incredible! The classic d-handle design is simple, yet balanced. Emotionally charged, yet passionately driven. As polished copper dances at the pinch, this Yanagiba is ready to get to work!
Handle materials include: siberian elm burl, double-dyed russian maple burl, white acrylic, 3700 year-old bog oak, and polished copper.
“Man! So my wife brought me the knife while I was cooking last night. She said she knew how excited I’d be because I’ve been going on about it. I basically stopped service to marvel at it, and insist everyone else marvel as well. I’m speechless to how incredibly high your level of craftsmanship is. You blew this out of the water! I’m so thankful!” - Josh Peterson