The Ideal Gift for the Knife Obsessive in Your Life

Lalito executive chef Kia Damon is very convincing on the following point: You should own a knife roll. Damon’s roll of choice, which she describes as her “most essential kitchen companion,” is the Messermeister 5-Pocket Felt Knife Roll. “I’m used to cooking in all sorts of locations or even helping other chef friends on the fly, and it helps to always have my kitchen tools organized and within reach,” Damon says.

Yes, a knife roll is a particularly professional accessory, not usually spied in regular home kitchens. But you don’t need to be a chef to get use out of it. A knife roll is a good option for safe, organized knife storage at home, especially if you have a smaller kitchen and don’t want to store your knives in a wooden block or magnetic strip or shove them in a drawer. It also comes in handy if you’re, say, heading to an Airbnb for the weekend with plans to cook.

When Damon was living in Florida, working as a self-taught personal chef and caterer, she coveted this particular knife roll but told herself she’d purchase it when she became a more established chef. As a surprise, a friend bought it for her to celebrate some upcoming gigs. “Doing weddings, doing popups, it felt good to walk in there with my knife roll,” she says. “It also felt good to have something secure to keep all my tools in. It’s my pride and joy. It was the first thing that truly made me feel official in my career.”

In the kitchen at Lalito, Damon says her knife roll is still indispensable, keeping her organized and on top of her tools. “Now that I’m running a kitchen and all of my staff are grabbing for knifes, I have a safe place to keep my most precious possessions,” she says. Which also makes a knife roll an ideal gift for the knife obsessive in your life — you know, the one who considers their Japanese chef’s knife their most precious possession. “It feels cool as hell to show up with a knife roll,” Damon says. “It screams professional and badass.”

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