Cutting edge: Cincy Sharp keeps local chefs in fine form

Chris Weist founded Cincy Sharp in Nov. 2012, but he’s been sharpening knives since his first pocket knife in Cub Scouts. He graduated to a set of professional kitchen knives when he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, and now uses his sharpening skills to keep Cincinnati cooks in fine cutlery.

Weist, 48, is a lifelong cook and currently the executive chef at McHale’s Events and Catering. He sees every day how profoundly a properly sharpened knife affects production in the kitchen.  

“A sharp knife cuts where you put it and won’t slip,” he says. This makes it safer, more predictable. A keen edge also reduces the amount of torn and crushed cell walls in food, thus minimizing oxidation and delaying browning in produce like apples and wilting in lettuce. And that’s no snake oil claim.

“Ask a surgeon how important his scalpel is," says Joel Werner, chef du cuisine at Via Vite. "The knife is a chef’s instrument. A dull knife breaks down the product, and bruises things like herbs and tomatoes. There’s no accuracy.”

Weist sharpens knives for Via Vite, Zula and Local 127, among others. Individuals can drop off knives at McHale’s or Weist’s home, or he’ll pick them up himself for orders of five knives or more. He also accepts mail-in work.  

For those who don’t want to invest in a costly professional knife, Weist provides a rental service. He delivers newly sharpened knives and picks up used ones weekly or biweekly, depending on the customer’s needs.  

Weist sharpens out of a home workshop he built himself. Half a dozen different grinders and paper wheels are stationed around the shop with thickets of varying gradient grit hoops hanging from pegboards above them. Weist uses the grinding wheels to make the rough geometry adjustments that remove nicks and reshape broken tips.

From there, he gives the blade a finer touch with fine grit wet stones. He finishes by buffing the blade on a paper wheel to remove surface scratches, in most cases making the knife look like new.  

This summer, Weist will take a mobile sharpening rig to the farmers markets in Hyde Park, Anderson and Madeira. He’ll be sharpening knives, but mostly as a demo, he says, to educate people about his service.  

“I’m here for the food enthusiast with a nice set of knives, the person who doesn’t have the time to train themselves how to do all this.”