Coutelier Is the Cutlery Shop of Our Dreams
At Coutelier, a supremely dialed-in cutlery shop with locations in New Orleans and now Nashville, co-owners and chefs Jacqueline Blanchard and Brandt Cox will show you the closest thing to Valyrian steel. They are happy to school you on the pros and cons of carbon vs. clad or Gyoto vs. Kiritsuke. They can also throw in history lessons about how, say, the Meiji Restoration sword bans in Japan or shepherding practices on the Aubrac plateau in France influenced blade designs. “What you find at Coutelier is a representation of our professional cooking experiences and travels,” says Blanchard. Together the owners have years of impressive kitchen experience at revered restaurants, like Benu, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, The French Laundry, and Restaurant August on their resumes. “We’ve developed an eye for quality and utility, so it's easy to guide a home cook toward the right tools for the job,” she adds. Most of the knives at Coutelier are from multigenerational master Japanese bladesmiths, including famed knifemakers Moritaka, Takeda, and Takamura, with whom the couple has cultivated close working relationships over years of forge visits. They also stock everything from the smartest little mandoline to handsome, hand-carved serving spoons from Kentucky. Here, Blanchard shares some of the Nashville location items.