Fusion by Andrea Ponti

Familiars in the kitchen are always going on about the debate between steel and ceramic, and which makes a better knife. While the Fusion Knife Collection may not be a contender among the more popular favorites, it does hold up a blade to the aesthetic competition. Designed by Andrea Ponti and produced by craftsman Issei Hanaoka in his Kyoto studio, the wooden knives are a minimalistic alternative in which the handle is indistinguishable from the blade. The uniformity of materiality lends the knives, which are available in both ebony and blond maple as serrated and non-serrated, a mysteriously aboriginal quality beneath the elegant front. The streamlined curve of the blade to handle is accentuated by the wood’s natural grain; but be careful! These knives are as sharp as any.