From as young as he can remember, David Hoehler has had two passions…knives and food. Now the former chef and father of two is combining his talents and skills to produce some of the best quality custom made kitchen knives in the country.
Humble, humorous and hard working. These are just a few of the words you could use to describe David. He is also confident and passionate about his craft and proud of the beautiful handmade knives he creates. And so he should be.
Each one of his knives are carefully moulded and shaped using high quality materials and then skilfully and lovingly finished off to its future owner’s exact specifications.
As we sit and chat in David’s workshop – a converted garage adjacent to the Sheffield Beach home he shares with his wife Karin and their two children – he tells us a bit about his childhood and his journey to becoming a chef and knife maker. “I spent the first 18 years of my life in the South of Johannesburg. School was hard for me as I suffered terribly with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I found my solace in sports though. I achieved a number of sporting accolades, specifically for rowing and shooting while I was attending Parktown Boys High School.”
Despite being offered full bursaries to attend university because of his rowing, David decided against it. He says it would have been wasted on him. “The classroom never made sense to me. I had two passions as a kid – knives and food. I have always loved cooking.”
Which is why he ended up going to Fern Hill Hotel and training college after school. And he loved it. “I got to cook and play with knives all day! The best thing to come out of my years at college though,” David says, “was meeting my wonderful wife. We started dating three months into college and have been together ever since.”
David pursued his career as a chef, first spending six months working as a line chef in West Palm Beach Florida, before returning to South Africa where he worked in a number of top restaurants. His last cooking job was at the Umami restaurant in Dunkirk Estate. “The year I spent there changed my cooking and work ethic forever. It was a steep learning curve, but I learnt so much under the amazing chef Tayla Cockerell.”
He moved away from the kitchen after he and Karin got married and he took up a job as a sales rep at the North Coast Courier newspaper. David’s cooking background came in handy during his time at the Courier, landing him the role of resident restaurant critic!
For the last year though, David has been a full time knife-maker. “My earliest memories are of knives. My late father was a gun and knife collector and I was given my first Swiss Army knife when I was six years old. I’ve had a knife in my pocket ever since.” It was almost inevitable that David would pursue a career where his most important tool was a knife.
“I always thought knife making was something you did when you retire, until I met a dear friend, Terry Smith. He sparked my interest six years ago. Slowly I started meeting other local knife makers and when well known local chef and restaurateur Brett Michelin ordered a chef knife from me, it opened the door for my business. Brett has been an amazing friend and customer.”
David doesn’t make just any knives. All the knives he produces are specifically made for use in the kitchen – something only a handful of knife makers in the country do.
According to David, a custom made knife can take anywhere from five to 45 hours to complete. Production, store-bought knives are made by the thousand and the result is a cheaper, softer knife.
“Much more care and attention goes into producing a handmade knife. From heat treating to edge geometry and fit and finish … handmade will always cost more, but it’s for a reason. When you buy one of my knives you are paying for the years of practice it’s taken to get to where I am.”
The process of making a knife is a complicated one that includes cutting, marking and drilling holes and heat treating the stainless steel (making the knife hard enough to stay sharp). There are various other complex steps in the process, which culminates in the final stage – making the handle. “I like durable materials for handles like fibreglass laminate, but more than 70 percent of my knives have beautiful African hardwood handles (like wild olive, African black wood or tamboti). The fanciest handle material I ever worked with was woolly mammoth tooth!”
When he’s not working hard on his knife-making business David enjoys spending time with his family, fishing or walking on the beach and, of course, cooking!
We asked him to share a few tips for the home chef to consider when buying knives. “Try to handle the knife a bit before buying it. Buy trusted brands (Youtube has lots of information). You don’t have to spend a fortune on a knife for it to be good, but will spend around R750 to R1000 for a decent chef’s knife.”
Details: Contact David on: 078 639 8356, [email protected], FB: Hoehler Handmade Knives, IG: hoehlerhandmade
Text: Leah Shone | Photo: MARY-ANN PALMER
