Slice of life: Meet Nashville's expert bladesmith
A red-hot piece of steel must be hammered in precisely the right way in order to properly shape a blade.
Why it matters: Duncan Stephenson has turned his craft knife business, Horn & Heel, into one that is uniquely Nashville. His knives begin as hand-crafted kitchen tools and, over time, become cherished family heirlooms.
The big picture: Stephenson's knives are so well regarded that some of Nashville's top restaurants and chefs use them in their kitchens.
Chefs from across the country go to Horn & Heel for their knives. Stephenson singled out Sean Brock at June, Michael Hanna at St. Vito, Chris Biard at S.S. Gai, Rooney at Black Dynast Ramen and Nick Guidry at Pelican & Pig as a few of his local clients.
What he's saying:"I get distracted. So I really like the problem solving aspect," Stephenson tells Axios. "It keeps me honed. I'm locked into what the customer has requested of me, and how I create that, but also in my voice."
Speaking to the science of blademaking, Stephenson says "the metallurgy behind the heat treatment is a whole other thing. If you don't heat-treat steel well, it is a knife-shaped object, but it won't function."
Then there's the artful aspect, which comes in as he adds finishing touches to create the aesthetic of the wooden handle.
Zoom in: For instance, a customer, who happened to be a Green Bay Packers fan, requested a custom-made pizza cutter. Stephenson fashioned the circular slicer, and then added green-and-yellow stripes made from small pieces of metal on the handle.
Flashback: Stephenson says knife-making is at the Venn diagram of his interests and personal background. His father is a cabinetmaker. Stephenson went to art school, where he got a degree in fine arts with a concentration in small metals.
"Utilitarianism is a massive thing for me. I like to create something that goes out in the world and serves a purpose and makes someone's life better," he says.
His knives aren't cheap because they're made to last a lifetime and even be passed down as heirlooms. The cost is generally several hundred dollars. In some instances, professional chefs have come back to order more knives, the ultimate compliment.
Zoom out: Horn & Heel is nestled into The Forge, a maker's space off of Hermitage Avenue south of downtown where artists, screen printers, sculptors and woodworkers have micro businesses.
"The energy here is really palpable," he says. "I feed off of being around the people here, even if their area of interest is completely different than mine."
In addition to his blademaking, a few times per year Stephenson leads small workshops where he teaches small groups of students the entire process from finish.
Bonus: Because of Stephenson's love of food, his restaurant recommendations carry extra weight. He mentioned Thai-chicken joint SS Gai, Black Dynasty Ramen (both are clients) and James Beard-nominated Peninsula as some of his current faves.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
PCE data comes in hot: What rising inflation means for the Fed
Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data — the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge — showed an increase of 2.8% on a yearly basis in June. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Jennifer Schonberger joins Morning Brief with Julie Hyman to break down the data and discuss what it could mean for the Fed going forward. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief. Lest we forget, guys, in all of the tech excitement, we had some pretty significant economic data this morning on the back of the Fed meeting yesterday. Jen, I want to come to you on that. Inflation accelerating a little bit in June. Yeah, inflation not moving in the right direction here for the Fed, Julie, clocking in at 2.8% when we look at that core number, which excludes volatile food and energy prices. And this is the personal consumption expenditures index. This is the most favored inflation gauge for the Federal Reserve. Again, that clocking in at 2.8% on that year-over-year number versus expectations for 2.7% and what Chair Powell had also expected. He said yesterday he expects it to clock in at 2.7. So this came in above what the Fed expected, and digging into those numbers a bit to see if it's being driven by the good side, which would imply perhaps a pass-through on tariffs versus services, we are seeing the good side of the inflation equation in this report perk up a bit from the previous month. Again, this was for June, so the end of the second quarter, and if we've looked at PCE from overall GDP, it was 2.5%. This this report just one month of that three-month block. So there could be some irregularities in the data, or some ups and downs, if you will. Nevertheless, just not looking good for the Fed here, and it goes to Fed Chair Powell's point that it's still early right now for the Fed to determine what the impact of President Trump's tariffs are on inflation, that he wants to see more data as we go through the summer months. Again, this is just June right here, but certainly not moving in the right direction for rate cuts. And so, Jen, how should we be thinking about after what we heard from the Fed chair yesterday? How should we be thinking about what to pay the most attention to going into September or is the idea that even in September, we are not going to be seeing the full effect of tariffs? Well, that is a $64 million question, right, Julie? And so many reporters did try to press the Fed chair on that yesterday, and he did not open the door to a rate cut for September, saying that we need to look at the data and we're going to get a, you know, a couple more inflation reports, couple more employment reports. Right now, it seems like the Fed is looking at both sides of the equation. They do think that the labor market remains solid right now. Fed Governor Waller, who did dissent because he is worried about private sector job growth stalling, that is not something that Chair Powell seemed to mention he's worried about at this point. Um, so he seems to be looking more towards the inflation side of the equation. This certainly doesn't help the case for September. We'll see how the rest of the numbers come in. I did think it was interesting that he said during the press conference yesterday, look, you could say that we're actually looking through the goods inflation right now because we're not hiking. It was a bit of a shot across the bow perhaps to the president who is out again hammering the Fed for not lowering rates yesterday. Related Videos Fed Governor Adriana Kugler to resign Dow falls more than 500 points on jobs report, tariffs SEC chair talks tokenization & how securities should be defined Crypto regulation: SEC Chair Atkins previews the agency's efforts Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fox News
a day ago
- Fox News
Husband refuses to eat chicken left in hot car for hours, sparking food safety debate: 'Not thrilled'
One man risked dinner – and domestic peace – when he refused to eat sun-warmed poultry that his wife was planning to prepare, according to a viral social media post. Writing on Reddit's 24-million-member "Am I the A--hole" forum on July 26, the man said the spat began after his wife decided to try a new recipe for dinner. "It's a one-pot chicken thing with orzo," he wrote. "She ordered the groceries online this morning and then went to collect them around 11 a.m. She got back home around midday and unloaded everything from the car." But around 5:30 p.m., his wife suddenly asked where the chicken went – and found that it had been sitting in the trunk of their car all afternoon. "The chicken wasn't a frozen chicken," the man clarified. "The chicken was a whole, fresh, raw chicken, in a sealed bag." "Although it wasn't a particularly warm day, we still had a high of [60 degrees Fahrenheit] and our car was sitting out in the sunshine all afternoon." The wife said that the chicken was still "cool to the touch," which the man hesitantly agreed with – it wasn't warm, he said, but he wouldn't call it "overly cold." "It's safe to say it was somewhere between fridge temperature and room temperature," he wrote. The Redditor quickly told his wife he wasn't interested in eating the chicken. "She tells me we're [still] going to eat the chicken," he recalled. "I go back to the couch and start Googling how long you can leave a chicken in the car." Despite going back-and-forth, the wife continued preparing the chicken – until the husband had an idea. "I pitch the idea that she can have the chicken and I can just make something simple for my dinner," he said. "She's not thrilled because she wanted to make this meal for me." The man said he told her that he was "not going to eat it" and felt as if he was "being made to eat a chicken against my will." She then got into the car and left "in search of another chicken from the store." But the man admitted that he felt "like a bit of an a--hole about it." "I also feel like we may have wasted a perfectly good chicken," he said. But most of the comments posted on the thread — which attracted over 2,000 responses — affirmed his fears. "You know what's worse than throwing out a chicken? Food poisoning," the top comment read. "I would not have eaten that chicken either." "I have a realllllllyyy loose attitude toward food safety and I wouldn't eat that chicken," another person chimed in. One user who attested to working in restaurants for two decades, however, had a different take. "I would've eaten it," the commenter wrote in part. "Still cool to the touch and getting cooked fully? It's fine." "It's not worth the risk. A single chicken is not that expensive compared to the food poisoning you could experience." Another wrote, "You're about to cook it. It's not had time to rot, especially if it's cool to the touch. Everyone in these comments is overreacting." Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D., a food scientist with Mendocino Food Consulting in California, told Fox News Digital the risk in the Reddit situation is "very high." "It has been several hours-plus inside a car, which will be at a much higher temperature than the surrounding air," he said. "Bacteria grow very fast every 10 degrees higher than refrigeration temperature, exponentially so every 20 minutes. They are right that it is not safe to eat." Le added that, hypothetically, one could try cooking the chicken — which would destroy pathogenic bacteria. But that doesn't solve the issue, he said. "It's the toxins they leave behind that can be a problem, which tend to be heat-resistant," the expert said. "It's not worth the risk. A single chicken is not that expensive compared to the food poisoning you could experience."
Business of Fashion
a day ago
- Business of Fashion
Relief in Southeast Asia As Trump's Tariffs Level Playing Field
Southeast Asian countries breathed a sigh of relief on Friday after the US announced tariffs on their exports that were far lower than threatened and levelled the playing field with a rate of about 19 percent across the region's biggest economies. US President Donald Trump's global tariffs offensive has shaken Southeast Asia, a region heavily reliant on exports and manufacturing and in many areas boosted by supply chain shifts from China. Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia joined Indonesia and the Philippines with a 19 percent US tariff, a month after Washington imposed a 20 percent levy on regional manufacturing powerhouse Vietnam, Southeast Asia - with economies collectively worth more than $3.8 trillion - had raced to offer concessions and secure deals with the United States, the top export market for much of the region. Its countries, many of them key players in the global supply chain, vied to stave off the prospect of losing market share to each other and of multinational firms shifting operations and orders elsewhere. Malaysia's Trade Ministry said its rate, down from a threatened 25 percent, was a positive outcome without compromising on what it called 'red line' items. Thailand's finance minister said the reduction from 36 percent to 19 percent would help his country's struggling economy face global challenges ahead. 'It helps maintain Thailand's competitiveness on the global stage, boosts investor confidence and opens the door to economic growth, increased income and new opportunities,' Pichai Chunhavajira said. The extent of progress on bilateral trade deals with the United States was not immediately clear, with Washington so far reaching broad 'framework agreements' with Indonesia and Vietnam, with scope to negotiate further. Pichai said Thailand was about a third of the way there. The United States on Friday slashed the tariff rate for Cambodia to 19 percent from earlier levies of 36 percent and 49 percent, a major boost for its crucial garments sector, its biggest economic driver and source of about a million manufacturing jobs. 'If the US maintained 49 percent or 36 percent, that industry would collapse in my opinion,' Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and top trade negotiator Sun Chanthol told Reuters in an interview. Status Quo In Thailand and Malaysia, business groups cheered a tariff rate that could signal a maintenance of the status quo between rival markets, among them beneficiaries of so-called 'China plus one' trade. 'It's very good - we're on par with Indonesia and the Philippines and lower than Vietnam ... we're happy,' said Werachai Lertluckpreecha of semiconductor manufacturer Star Microelectronics. Chookiat Ophaswongse of the Thai rice exporters association said the similar rate to Vietnam would maintain its share of the US market, while Wong Siew Hai, president of Malaysia's semiconductor industry association, said the latest tariffs would level the competition. 'I don't see the companies doing anything special. It will be business as usual for now, until they figure out what is the next best move,' Wong said. Much remains to be worked out by the Trump administration, including non-tariff barriers, rules of origin and what constitutes transshipment for the purposes of evading duties, a measure targeting goods originating from China with no or limited value added, where a 40 percent tariff would apply. Vietnam has one of the world's largest trade surpluses with the United States, worth more than $120 billion last year, and has been often singled out as a hub for the illegal re-routing of Chinese goods to America. It was a first-mover in trade talks and reached an agreement in July that slashed a levy from a threatened 46 percent to 20 percent, but concerns remain among some businesses that its heavy reliance on raw materials and components imported from China could lead to a wider application of the 40 percent rate. 'That is the real issue,' said one businessman in Vietnam, who asked not to be named to allow him to speak more freely. Andrew Sheng of the University of Hong Kong's Asia Global Institute said the similar tariffs mean Southeast Asian countries should be relieved that policy uncertainty was over for now. 'The tariff announcement looks like a classic Trump Art of the Deal deal - lots of hype and threats, and with one flourish, the other side feels that it has a reasonable deal,' he said. By Martin Petty, Chayut Setboonsarng, and Huey Mun Leong Learn more: Asia Factory Outlook at Lowest Since Pandemic on Trump Tariffs Manufacturers in Southeast Asia are less optimistic about future growth, despite recent improvements in output, amid tariff uncertainty.
