Meet the Team

Galen

What's your favorite knife?
My go-to knife is our Desert Dawn 7" Chef.  I use it for almost everything.  The handle shape feels great in my hand.

How long have I worked here?
I started Town Cutler June 1st, 2011 in Downtown San Francisco.  After working for 10 years in kitchens I felt it was time to change paths.  What brought me into kitchens was knives and fire with that ability to create something.  I saw there wasn't really a great knife store in San Francisco at that time so I pursued a small business micro loan and opened up Town Cutler.  It has now evolved to a full scale knife production business based in Reno, NV.

What activities do you like to do outside of work?
I love cooking at home.  I still love learning new things to cook and try to make as much food by scratch as possible.  Other than that, I love listening to music and getting outside as much as I can.  

What is your favorite material to work with & why?
Since most of my duties are sharpening our knives and quality control, I love working on any one of our machines.  We're lucky enough to have great equipment and it's amazing how important they are, and maintaining them is a joy.

What's your favorite thing about making knives?
It brings a great deal of joy to me to see raw materials be working into our knives.  That's a daily joy to me.  But it's been so amazing to see my incredible staff grow and evolve over the years.  I couldn't be where I am without my crew. There have been so many wonderful people that have worked for me over the years and everyone has had a hand in making this company grow.  My current crew is incredibly professional and they always work together in improving their skills.  This results in a consistent, high quality knife.  I always hope that working here brings joy to my staff and they are proud of what they do.  

Heather

What's your favorite knife?
I love them all! I use our 7" Chef knives most often at home and I am also really enjoying our Culinary 2.0 Nakiri lately.

How long have I worked here?
Since 2016.

What activities do you like to do outside of work?
Cooking and traveling. I love cooking at home on the weekends and most of my travel plans end up revolving around food.

What is your favorite material to work with & why?
Since I am on the "office" side of things, I don't really work with materials directly. But my favorite thing is working with our restaurant clients and retailers. Working with another team or company over a longer period of time is fun for me because we get to build a relationship.

What's your favorite thing about working at Town Cutler?
My favorite thing about working at Town Cutler is how amazing our crew is and the incredible knives they make. Before Town Cutler, I worked in restaurants and art galleries, so I see what I do now as somewhat related to my previous work. I get to be an important part of telling the story of Town Cutler, promoting our products, and taking care of things on the customer-facing side, so our makers can keep doing what they do.

Keenan

What’s your favorite knife? 
Depends. If we're talking kitchen knives, anything Town Cutler, especially the 8.5” Chef. If we're talking folders then my CRK Umnumzaan. 

How long have you worked here?
I’ve worked for Town Cutler since May 2021.

What activities do you like to do outside of work?
Im usually just hanging out with my girlfriend whenever I have free time. We like to go on hikes, bike rides, go to the gym, eat good food, and drink beer. I also collect knives, read, and like to just chill out and relax. 

What is your favorite material to work with and why?
I’d say my favorite material is Ironwood just because of how good it looks once it's done. Especially when it's on a Damasteel blade. 

What’s your favorite thing about making knives?
My favorite thing about making knives is just seeing the completed knife at the end of the whole process. It feels good to take raw materials and turn them into the beautiful knives we make. There are so many steps that go into each one so it's very satisfying to complete them all and have a heirloom quality tool that will last you forever if taken care of properly. I just feel very privileged to have a hand in almost every step of the knives we make, so is hard for me to single out one thing, because I enjoy every step of the process.

Nikki

What’s your favorite knife? 
Our 8.5” Chef Knives.

How long have you worked here? 
Since March 2023.

What activities do you like to do outside of work? 
I like to read, hangout with friends, and cook with my boyfriend. 

What is your favorite material to work with and why? 
Since I don’t work in the shop, my favorite line to photograph is Tahoe Bliss because I like to capture the metallic blue resin. 

What's your favorite thing about making knives? 
My favorite thing is learning about the skill and attention to detail it takes to create one of our knives. Since I am still new, I feel like I learn something everyday. 

Kristyn

What’s your favorite knife?
Tahoe Bliss.

How long have you worked here? 
Since November 2021.

What activities do you like to do outside of work?
Gardening and drawing.

What is your favorite material to work with and why?
Probably Buckeye, it's a very forgiving material. It also has a sweet smell when sanded.

What’s your favorite thing about making knives?
My favorite thing about making knives is the attention to detail and how satisfying it is to see a block of material turn into a beautiful knife.