Of all people, it would seem as though celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain would be one of the least-likely candidates for hosting a show about craftsmen. After all, his focus over the years has been on rare Thai fish dishes on the beach in Phuket or Filet Mignons in Manhattan.
Yet, few people have the camera smarts and storytelling chops like he does when it comes to discussing the origins of how something came to be – and whether you like him or can’t stand him (such as a few chefs I know), it’s hard to disagree that he’s good at getting to the point when it comes to assembling a ‘product’. After all, aren’t chefs “craftsmen” to an extent, too?
More recently, the celebrity chef and tv host has partnered with scotch company The Balvenie to create the Raw Craft online film series. The new YouTube series digs deeper behind the scenes of America’s most talented and dedicated craftspeople – not unlike how he goes behind the scenes of kitchens around the world. So far, the series has taken him to meet legendary “boxing tailor” Frank Shattuck and saxophone designer Steve Goodson to find out more about their approach to their craft and the process.
For his most recent trip however, Bourdain headed to Olympia, Washington for a behind the scenes look at master bladesmith Bob Kramer’s meteorite knives. Kramer is one of only one hundred twenty-two certified master bladesmiths in the U.S. and the only one who specializes in forging the word’s finest kitchen knives – so needless to say, his story is one worth watching:
You can check out the earlier episodes in the series by heading over to the Raw Craft YouTube channel.
