Frienjis Early Access: Introducing the Shitoku 四徳™—A New Knife Style for Home Cooks (Plus a brand-new drop of the hand-forged original from Vonhelmick) (Patreon)

Order the brand new KAN x Kenji Shitoku with this direct link. It's live right now. Use the password Kenji for a little extra off your purchase.

Order the limited edition second run of Vonhelmick x Kenji Shitoku with this link using the access code ShitokuKV200 (This same password is an access code for both the ordering page, as well as for placing the order). The link goes live at noon PT on Sunday 10/26/2025.

Hello Frienjis! Today we're releasing two knives that share the same DNA but are designed for different cooks. Both of those knives are available exclusively to Patreon Frienjis today.

One is a new collaboration with my friends at KAN Kitchen — a knife built for everyday home use, crafted from stainless Damascus steel for easier maintenance without sacrificing the feel and precision of a high-end blade. The other is a new, limited run of the original hand-forged Vonhelmick x Kenji Shitoku knives, made one at a time by master bladesmith Gordon Hanson in Falls City, Oregon.

Let’s talk about the knives.

Like many of you, I’ve been using and recommending Barney Lund's KAN Kitchen Knives for years—eight, to be exact. In fact, when I opened my restaurant, the now-closed Wursthall, I gave every cook in the kitchen one of Barney’s knives. What I loved then is what I still love now: KAN knives strike that rare balance between performance and price. They use premium materials, have gorgeous, thoughtful design, and are backed by a level of customer support that’s almost unheard of—especially at the price of a mid-range knife.

So when the time came to take the Shitoku 四徳™—the knife style I first hand-forged with bladesmith Gordon Hanson of Vonhelmick knives—and make it more accessible for home cooks, Barney was the obvious person to call.

But before we get to the details, let's talk about the name.

The Four Virtues

You might know the Japanese santoku — literally “three virtues” — for its mastery of slicing, dicing, and mincing. The shitoku (“four virtues”) adds a fourth: motion. That idea of movement is central to how I cook. I wanted a blade that flows naturally through food — one that lets you rock, push, and pivot effortlessly without feeling constrained by the flat profile or abrupt tip angle of a traditional santoku. The shape we came up with isn’t quite a santoku and isn’t quite a Western chef’s knife. It’s something new: a continuous curve with a finer tip and deeper arc that keeps you moving.

The Shitoku is, in that sense, a new knife style. It’s designed not just for precision, but for rhythm — for that intuitive, dance-like motion that happens when your knife becomes an extension of your hand.

The KAN Shitoku

I’ve spent the last year working with Barney to bring that idea to life in a way that fits real home kitchens. The result is the KAN Shitoku: a 67-layer stainless Damascus knife that balances durability, comfort, and razor-sharp performance. It’s light in the hand, perfectly balanced at the bolster, and designed to feel both approachable and precise — the kind of knife you reach for every day because it just feels right.

In the accompanying video, Barney and I talk through every detail — the curve geometry, the balance point, the handle contours — and then we deliver one of the first knives to a couple in Seattle and cook a meal with them in their kitchen. It’s a joyful little moment, and exactly what this knife was built for: real people, real cooking, and real connection. A big thank you to Sarah and Jordan for letting us party in their pantry.

A portion of every sale will also be donated to No Kid Hungry, a important organization helping ensure children around the U.S. get the food they need with whom both Barney and I have had a longstanding partnership.

Order the brand new KAN x Kenji Shitoku with this direct link. It's live right now. Use the password Kenji for a little extra off your purchase.

Stats:

Use case: Everyday, real-kitchen use—the knife you’ll hand to your partner, your kids (supervised!), or a dinner guest and know it’ll just work

Steel: 67-layer stainless Damascus (easy care, stain-resistant)

Feel: Light, nimble, and balanced right at the bolster

Edge: Thin behind the edge with a durable working bevel (sharpen-friendly)

Blade Material: VG-10 Core, 66-Layer Stainless Steel Cladding

Length: 6.5 inches (165 mm) edge; 12 inches (305 mm) total

Blade Thickness: 0.063 inches (1.6 mm) at the heel

Weight: 4.7 oz (133 g)

Handle: Octagonal Wa; Ebony Wood + Golden Yolk/Guava Pink G10 Accents

Blade Height: 1.9 inches (48 mm)

Edge Angle: 15° each side

Hardness: 60 HRC

Care: Hand-wash only

The Vonhelmick x Kenji Shitoku

At the same time, I’m thrilled to be releasing a new batch of the knife that started it all — the Vonhelmick x Kenji Shitoku. This is the one Gordon and I forged together years ago, after I spent two long days at his Oregon forge hammering out the very first prototype. We refined that blade for years — the balance, the taper, the curvature — until we arrived at what I still consider the perfect fusion of Japanese precision and Western versatility.

Each knife in this new run is hand-forged by Gordon from 21-layer suminagashi steel with a Shiro2 ultra-high-carbon core. It’s tempered to Rockwell 60–61, then finished in a traditional nashiji texture that helps keep food from sticking while giving each blade its own unique character. The handles are made from locally sourced wood and accented in my signature Guava Pink and Golden Yolk. Each knife is numbered and stamped by hand. Only 200 of this second exist, and the first 100 are going on pre-sale for Frienjis today.

The last run of these sold out in four minutes. I expect this one to go quickly too!

Order the limited edition second run of Vonhelmick x Kenji Shitoku with this link using the access code ShitokuKV200 (This same password is the access code for both the ordering page, as well as for placing the order). The link goes live at noon PT on Sunday 10/26/2025.

Stats:

Use case: Professional chefs and serious home cooks who have experience working with and sharpening high-carbon steel.

Core: Shiragami No. 2 Ultra High Carbon

Edge Hardness: 61 HRC

Blade Finish: Acid-Etched Nashiji

Grind Angle: 15° double bevel

Grind Type: Flat

Blade Length: 17cm (6.6 inches)

Overall Length: 29.5cm (11.6 inches)

Spine Width: 2.4mm average

Handle Material: 200 Year Old American Black Walnut

Weight: 135g

Care: Hand-wash only, dry and oil after use. Hand-sharpen only.

A Knife for Every Cook

The Vonhelmick knife is heirloom-level craft — carbon steel that rewards attention with incredible sharpness and patina. The KAN knife, on the other hand, is built for modern home life — easy to care for (just please, for the love of God, keep it out of the dishwasher!), beautifully balanced, and equally at home dicing onions or carving a Sunday roast. They’re two interpretations of the same idea.

Thank you, as always, for being part of this community — for letting me build cool things with people I admire and put them in the hands of cooks I trust.

—Kenji

Order the brand new KAN x Kenji Shitoku with this direct link. It's live right now. Use the password Kenji for a little extra off your purchase.

Order the limited edition second run of Vonhelmick x Kenji Shitoku with this link using the access code ShitokuKV200 (This same password is both access code for the ordering page, as well as for placing the order). The link goes live at noon PT on Sunday 10/26/2025.