Since my last post, a lot has happened. New restaurants and an amazing new bar (The Three Penny Taproom) have opened up around me in my little Capital City. I’ve done boatloads of cooking at home, and feel confident that I mastered both my great grandmother’s stuffing recipe and the best chicken and biscuits ever. I’ve traveled to France and spent a week in Paris, eating, eating and eating. It took a trip across the Atlantic to fall in love with my two new favorite foods: morel mushrooms and pistachio eclairs. Délicieux!!!

So now I have some serious writing to do, and clearly, some serious eating. Can’t wait to get started!

Loosely translated as “three uses” for it’s ability to slice, mince and dice, the Santoku is the Japanese chef’s knife most commonly identified by its sheep’s foot shape and the indentations along its hollow-ground 7 1/4″ blade. For those of us without a master’s in knifeology, it’s the knife that Rachael Ray uses. But while Ray Ray’s clunky merchandised version has a plastic handle and feels like it’s made from the steel of salvaged hubcaps, the Global is a sleek, all-metal design, light as a feather, and perfectly balanced.

But it’s not all show for my new lovah. This thing can really perform. My first cut was the simple halving of a lemon. I hardly applied pressure; the barely-there weight of the blade was enough to slice though the fruit in an admirably surgical manner. This thing really is razor-sharp. I know, I know, all new knives are sharp, but not like this. Since the lemon, I’ve chopped countless vegetables, fileted some chicken breast, cut a watermelon and admired this sexy silverado on a daily basis.

I know what you’re thinking: how much? Global’s Santoku will cost you about $95, but every devoted cook will tell you that great knives are worth the investment. Just be prepared for the others in your collection to get jealous.