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Mattia Borrani Puts American Spin on Chef’s Knife

November 8, 2019

Custom knife maker Mattia Borrani is bringing his Bowie Chef knife to the masses with a new Kickstarter project. The Bowie Chef brings concrete advantages to the kitchen and Borrani hopes that it will lay the groundwork for a larger line of similar cutlery.

This release offers a production Bowie Chef in either 7- or 8-inch blade lengths. Both configurations, of course, feature the signature bowie blade shape made from VG-10 steel. Customers can choose between a damascus-clad or plain blade; all iterations are full tang and come with a black Micarta handle.

Borrani says that he conceived of the Bowie Chef when trying to innovate in the kitchen knife realm. “We are all familiar with all the Japanese, French, and German shapes, and they are great, but America has such an extensive culinary past and it just felt to me that having our own culinary knife identity was long overdue.” He looked to historical bowie examples but refined them into something equally modern and practical. “I wanted to blend the old with the new and create a culinary blade shape we could call our own.”

The bowie blade shape on Borrani’s knife isn’t just an attractive visual gimmick, either. “The tip of the blade is slightly higher than most traditional ‘western’ blade shapes, but this actually facilitates higher rocking cuts, allowing a more fluid motion while chopping,” Borrini explains. “Also the tip narrows due to the clip point so there is less surface area for drag when utilized for detailed or delicate cutting.” Borrani also highlights the big, continuous belly on the blade as a feature for food prep tasks.

Borrani has been making custom versions of the Bowie Chef for two years, and in that time has been using culinary professionals as his testers. “I have had the Bowie Chef in the hands of countless chefs over the last two years and have been very pleased and honored with their responses.” In that time Borrani notes that additional refinements were made to hone the Bowie Chef’s performance. “We are at a place now with the Bowie Chef that I am very happy with.”

Eventually, Borrani wants to expand the Bowie Chef concept into an entire suite of kitchen cutlery. “10” all the way down to utility/paring and of course steak knives are already in the works,” he says. Borrani envisions the expansion occurring on both custom and production tiers in the future too. “My goal is to create the opportunity for everyone to be part of history in owning America’s first culinary blade shape.”

The Bowie Chef is available now on Kickstarter, in limited numbers. Funding is open through December 6th, 2019.

Knife in Featured Image: Borrani Cutlery Bowie Chef

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