The Maker

Bernard Lambotte

Knifesmith, Designer, Inventor and Fabricator.

 

"Functional Art and Design:
Each and every knife I make is uniquely and meticulously built to be materialized into an art piece and a beautifuly working tool."

 

My knives are inspired by design, form and function - a mix of sculpting, testing, precision and high tolerances which together form a precisely finished functional work of art.

I have been crafting my knives by hand from start to finish, and take pride in using the maximum of materials made in-house.

History

I've had a fascination with knives ever since I was a child. It started as a 9 year old, fishing off my parent's sail boat, to camping and backpacking through my teen years. I was also keen to involve myself in the kitchen, helping my parents prepare everything from daily meals to extravagant dinners when entertaining friends and family.

When I finished high school, I decided to pursue my interests in cooking and entered culinary school until I aquirred an associate degree. I later went back to an art school with a strong interest in design where I graduated from The San Diego Art Institute with a Bachelor in Graphic and Web Design. For the next 15 years, I worked within web and design fields. Aside from this I always continued to have a strong interest in cooking all types of food - from traditional French recipes to Thai, Chinese, Indonesian, Italian, Mexican and more. I love experiencing new foods and expending my palette!

In late 2016, I was in need of a change in my life. I had decided that I wanted to do more work with my hands. This new path would have to involve my passion for design and art, be something of my own making, and needed to be functional as well.

I gathered much inspiration from my love of cooking and started to look into knifemaking - and all this led to the start of my new passion.

My first few knives were modified friction folders and camping knives. From there things quickly morphed into defining my style through form and function. I designed and tested many different shapes and types of knives over the next two years which helped me start to form my identity and design theory.

Late in 2020, I decided to really focus my skills in the designing and making of a line of culinary tools. I've spent months in the design, development and testing of every element that encompassed my culinary tools until I felt that I was at a point where they where ready to share.

All this has lead me to where my product stands today. Inspired by a blend of my design esthetics and encompassing French, german and Japanese techniques. My knives are a unique blend of symmetry, simplicity and elegance all the while incorporating ergonomics and balance to achieve the experience presented.