Tatsu Santoku 170mm

This Tatsu santoku knife is handmade right here in Cape Town by Gavin MacFarlane, made with L4528 steel with a substantial workhorse grind, a complete mirror polish, and a striking burnt and natural Zebrano handle.

Tatsu is the work of Gavin MacFarlane, a Cape Town knife maker who makes each blade by hand.

A santoku is the Japanese all-rounder knife shape. Its name translates to  three virtues, for the three jobs it handles well: vegetables, fish, and meat. This santoku knife has a genuinely lovely shape and feel in the hand. It is ground on the thicker side, which makes it a proper workhorse. This is a knife built to work hard and take everyday kitchen use in its stride. The whole blade is finished with a complete mirror polish, a clean, reflective surface that takes real skill to achieve by hand and gives the knife a genuinely premium look.

The handle is burnt and natural Zebrano, a bold striped hardwood that looks the part and sits comfortably in the hand.

Steel and Construction

L4528 is a stainless knife steel with a high chromium content, which makes it genuinely stain resistant and easy to live with. This is a mono-steel knife, made from a single piece of steel with no cladding, which suits a straightforward workhorse blade like this one. It takes a keen edge and holds it well, and its corrosion resistance is exactly what you want in a knife built to work hard day in and day out. It is comparable to steels like VG-10 in the way it performs, with the added benefit of being very resistant to staining.

Maintenance and Care

This is a stainless blade, so it is straightforward to look after and will not patina or rust the way a carbon knife does. Wash it by hand and dry it after use rather than leaving it wet or letting it sit in the sink. Do not put it in the dishwasher. Keep it off bones, frozen food, and hard squash, since even a thick, tough blade is not meant for those. Sharpen it on a whetstone rather than a pull-through to keep the edge in good shape. Look after the Zebrano handle by keeping it out of prolonged water, and a little food safe mineral oil now and then will keep the wood looking its best.

Handmade in South Africa.

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