Joel Black Knives
A chef for 17 years, and a blacksmith for 5, Joel Black has been head chef at a number of establishments in the UK, as well as working in kitchens in Italy and France.
After a cycle trip which took him to India, Joel decided to follow his passion and undertake a BA Hons Degree in Artist Blacksmithing, to get to know everything he could about forging the perfect chef's knife.
He now lives that dream, working full time in the forge in Hereford, creating hand made custom blades for chefs all over the world.
His partner in crime is award winning craft artist, writer, lecturer, as well as part time chef, Holland Otik. Holland teaches on the only degree in Artist Blacksmithing in the world, and helps in the day-to-day running of the business as well as finishing and handling the knives.
Whilst completing a MA in Contemporary Craft, Holland met Joel in a commercial kitchen, and has been working with him creatively ever since. Together they also run the Secret Underground Dumpling Club, a pop up Chinese restaurant where a lot of the knives are given their first road test.
joelblackknives.com