A virtual showcase of the world’s best Damasteel® culinary knives.
With 17 makers from around the world to compete in this culinary competition, and over 400 attendees – it was an incredible night for collectors, chefs, makers and knife aficionados. It is an honour and pleasure for us to be able to host this event, but also to see inside the workshops and world’s of each of these makers. We are so grateful for their support and their dedication as artists, craftsmen, blade smiths.
The night could not have happened without the support of the Knife Talk Podcast – every year these guys bring the entertainment to the show and the show wouldn’t be the same without them. Have a listen to their weekly podcast to delve deeper in to the world of custom knifemaking from the perspective of three makers.
We awarded six prizes during the culinary knife competition, five as voted by the participating knifemakers and the final prize as chosen by the attendees of the show, Best in Show. Scroll down for a full list of our winners. And again, thank you to everyone for making this our favourite night of the year!
BEST PARING KNIFE – Winner
Awarded to Alfredo Faccipieri of Italy, this is the second year in a row that Faccipieri has walked away with the award in this category. His incredible skill and love of the steel really shines through. See more photos.
BEST BREAD KNIFE – Winner
Awarded to DIKRISTO of Greece, Dikristo has an incredible eye for strong shapes and approaches each knife project methodically. This is second year participating in the Damasteel Chef Invitational. See more photos.
BEST CLEAVER – Winner
Awarded to Andy Bourne, of England. This is Bourne’s first ever cleaver, and he honed it’s shape and design in his own kitchen. This was Bourne’s first time participating in the Damasteel Chef Invitational. See more photos.
BEST INTEGRAL – Winner
Awarded to Erik Gullikson, of Ireland. Forged from a single piece of concentric layers round bar, this knife has a continuous flow of steel from end to end. Find our more about this knife and Gullikson’s work.
BEST JAPANESE KNIFE – Winner
Awarded to Will Newham, of Australia. This 400mm long Kitchen Sword was a real standout of the category but also the show. This year was Will’s first time participating in the Damasteel Chef Invitational. See more photos.
BEST CHEF KNIFE – Winner
Awarded to Alex Horn x Acre Forge of Portland, USA. “In a lot of ways, this knife is a perfect example of who I am as a bladesmith. My knives are not flashy; they don’t rely on pomp and circumstance to tell their story. Instead, they focus on simple and elegant forms executed to the best of my ability.” See more photos.
BEST IN SHOW 2023 – ‘Techne’ Winner
Awarded to DIKRISTO, of Greece. “The combination of materials feels so right and the depth of the whole structure never ceases to amaze me. The performance of it is also uncanny (because functional art is what I do!). Mirror finished blade with deep etch for maximum texture and depth of field on this Damascus pattern. Free grinded blade with combined grinds, thin behind the edge & along the spine, tapered blade, created for push, pull, draw but even rocking motions.” This incredilbe really stunned the audience and was a clear fan favourite. This is Dikristo’s second time particiapting at DCI and his second time winning ‘Best in Show’. He was also awarded Best Bread Knife as chosen by his peers this year. To see more photos of the knife.
#DamasteelBuildalong
For the first time we celebrated a #DamasteelBuildalong at our annual Damasteel Chef Invitation. The billets for the Buildalong went on sale at the end of March and very quickly sold out. In the end we had 13 knife makers bravely put their work forward for judging. The Winners were Gabe Fletcher of Anchorage Forge in Alaska as chosen by the team at Knife Talk. AND Greg Anthony of GA Custom Blades as chosen by Damasteel’s iron master Per Jarbelius. A HUGE thank you to all the knifemakers who participated and the team at Knife Talk for taking us through this fun project. To see all of the knives.
Brute de forge Damasteel – Cutting edge – 8” and Heel Hight – 1-5/8” – Handle – Facetted Western (Maumasi Style) Stabilized Mango wood with gold flaked carbon fiber bolster. Silicon Bronze and G10 Spacer. Forged in tang, distal taper, heel height, and length.
The knife is a petty chef with an Asian inspiration. It has a cutting edge of 5.5″ (@14cm). The handle is sculpted Honduran Ebony with a vintage paper micarta bolster.