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Sur La Table goes old-school with new utensil line

Kitchen retailer announces new line of specialized kitchen utensils, inspired by vintage tools and handcrafted by artisans.

Jennifer Guevin Former Managing Editor / Reviews
Jennifer Guevin was a managing editor at CNET, overseeing the ever-helpful How To section, special packages and front-page programming. As a writer, she gravitated toward science, quirky geek culture stories, robots and food. In real life, she mostly just gravitates toward food.
Jennifer Guevin

Sur La Table announced on Tuesday a new line of specialized utensils based on classic tools like the butter curler, melon baller, turning fork, and grapefruit knife.

Sur La Table slotted turner
This slotted turner comes in both right-handed and left-handed versions. Sur La Table

The new line, called Things Cooks Love, consists of several dozen utensils with solid wooden handles and an old-timey style. For inspiration, the company looked for vintage kitchen tools here and abroad to find those that have withstood the test of time and remain useful, despite being highly specialized in some cases. The "tomato shark," made for expertly removing the tops of tomatoes or strawberries, was a new one to me.

All of the utensils are produced in either the U.S., France, or Italy. And they're all handmade by artisans--or even centuries-old companies--that specialize in handcrafted kitchen tools, according to a company statement. So, even though they're not cheap (it is Sur La Table we're talking about here), maybe thinking about the sixth-generation cutlery craftsman working in France will take a little of the sting out of the price of that $15 paring knife.