Dessert Landscape

Mike & Son Sharpening Service – Coming soon to a street corner near you

**I know this isn’t about dessert exactly, but knives are just a liiiiitle bit important in the culinary world, wouldn’t you say?**

While perusing the interwebs at some point recently, I came across something about there being a mobile sharpening truck that comes around periodically. I thought to myself, “I think I read about that kind of thing in Hawthorne’s House of the Seven Gables, but that takes place in 1850s New England!  I have, like, 5 knives that are so dull I’ve basically stopped cooking.  Remembering to bring them somewhere to get sharpened is such a hassle, and I’m too lazy to make a special trip into town. I would love if that old-school sharpening truck came around here.”

I’ve lived in my current spot for more than 9 years, and on weekends, my subconscious has vaguely registered a ringing noise occasionally coming from the street. As a resident of busy Brooklyn, you come to accept all kinds of noises and learn to just ignore them. And so I did, until today.

So I’m sitting on my couch checking out pastryscoop.com, when I hear that familiar-ish ringing noise again. But it’s not exactly a ringing noise– my mind transforms it into more like metal getting ground. WAIT! Is that by any miracle the sharpening truck?! I look out the window, and there it is, this ancient-looking green truck with drawings of knives and scissors on the side. What luck! I quickly grab every cooking knife I can find in the house (3 chef’s, 2 paring, 1 bread), wrap them in a towel, and rush outside like a crazy person, hoping like hell that 1. the truck is still there, and 2. that none of them slip out and stab me in the foot. Here’s the truck!

I carefully hand my bundle to the guy inside, and he tells me it’ll only be $24 (or $4 per knife). So cheap!! The side of the truck says they’ve been in business since 1941, and it looks like their sharpening equipment has “come along for the ride” since then as well. I feel like I’m looking at a museum exhibit in there. The guys are super nice, and the younger one shows me the bell they use, which is mounted on the front of the truck. It actually looks like a school bell. He says they come around every 2 weeks or so, but their route changes. I ask him how anyone can possibly know when they’re coming back, and he says they do it all on a whim. So I guess you just have to hope they come around your ‘hood soon… or you could call them, but that would take away the element of surprise, wouldn’t it?

When he hands my knives back over to me, he says, “Careful, they’re really sharp (heh heh).” I s’pose that’s the only joke you’ve got  in the sharpening trade.

Mike & Son Sharpening Service
212-365-4903

UPDATE: The good-old truck finally came back on August 15.  My knives had gotten dull after lots of good lovin’ over the months, so I had been waiting for the familiar scraping bell sound outside my window on a weekend afternoon.  This time, it was only $18 (or $3 per knife).

Tags: tools

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