What Knives Did Anthony Bourdain Use? It's a Brand Loved Globally by Every Daisuke, Jane, Juan, and Tony

Numerous media outlets reference Anthony Bourdain’s endorsement of Global Knives in Kitchen Confidential as a compelling reason to buy these knives. However, out of respect for Bourdain being a homie to many communities and the world, I want to explore how he captured the essence of Japanese culture and what the Global brand represents, rather than just using his name to sell you a product.

In honoring Tony’s memory, I prefer to delve into how he captured the essence of Japanese culture and what the Global brand represents. Rather than merely hyping a product, I’m going to show you the impact Bourdain had in fostering an appreciation for global cuisines, including the Japanese culinary heritage. In doing so, we pay homage to a dude who went beyond the surface of gastronomy (the practice or art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food), connecting with cultures in a genuine and legit way.

Bourdain liked Global for a reason

Many media outlets will cite Anthony Bourdain because he mentioned Global Knives in his book Kitchen Confidential to get you to buy Global Knives. Well, I would feel like a total douche if I did the same, and out of respect to Tony, I want to pay tribute to him by providing you how I think he reflects the Japanese culture and what the Global brand stands for.
I will not be monetizing the Global knives in this post.

I want to believe I am immune from celebrity product endorsements, but when it comes to Bourdain, he just seems too genuine of a dude to be a shill for Global, unlike Rachael Ray with her name slapped on a cookware set.

Citing Tony in Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is really about a product that happened to be part of his life at the time. Back in the mid 80s, when A-ha’s “Take On Me” was in the Billboard Top 10 and Global was this new Japanese knife brand (founded in 1985), it was simply a tool he came across in his journey, not some carefully staged piece of product placement.

Global is a Japanese brand by the Yoshikin factory of Japan, a family owned and private company. A brand that is anything but average because their design and approach in the 80s made them a household name now carried by big box retailers.

Anthony Bourdain’s career timeline

Prior to Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain had two previous books Bone in the Throat (’95), and Gone Bamboo (’97). Two books that were not a commercial success, so he was far from being an overnight success, and I included his timeline to remind you that you are never too old, and don’t give up.

1956	Born	June 25th, Anthony Michael Bourdain was born to Pierre and Gladys Bourdain.
1978	22 y.o.	Graduated from the The Culinary Institute of America.
1999	43 y.o.	April 12th, the New Yorker’s article “Don’t Eat Before Reading This: A New York Chef Spills Some Trade Secrets” hit newsstands (Gladys Bourdain helped make this happen).
2000	44 y.o.	May 22nd, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. The book goes on to sell over a million copies.
2001	45 y.o.	July 30th, A Cook’s Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal, also published as A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines. A New York Times bestselling book written by Anthony Bourdain
2002	46 y.o.	January 8th, a Cook’s Tour first aired on the Food Network.
2005	49 y.o.	July 25th, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations airs on the Travel Channel.
2011	55 y.o.	November 21st, Anthony Bourdain: The Layover on the Travel Channel.
2017	61 y.o.	April 22nd, Wasted! The Story of Food Waste premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.
2013-2018	57- 61 y.o.	April 14th, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown first aired on CNN

This is not meant to be fully comprehensive timeline.

A down a** MOFO

For 43 years, Tony was one of us. A man of the people, a guy who had struggled like all of us working 12+ hours a day, 6-days a week, alongside us, unacknowledged by many of us in the BOH, and he knew what the grind was like in a kitchen working 55-70+ shifts.

“You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”
– Anthony Bourdain

In 1983, Huey Lewis’s album Sports came out, and two years after that, the Global brand was born. Which was, for my taste, artistically groundbreaking and also commercially successful. Image: screenshot from the movie American Psycho.

Mission to Tokyo

Luckily for Bourdain, in the spring of 1999, Les Halles, his place of employment in NYC had a Tokyo branch, and they flew Bourdain out to the land of Gojira for a week. An experience where he at one point contemplated throwing out his US passport and staying in Japan.

“I love Tokyo. If I had to eat only in one city for the rest of my life, Tokyo would be it. Most chefs I know would agree with me.”
– Kitchen confidential, Anthony Bourdain

24+ years later, I know that most young bucks don’t realize Japanese food and culture was not nearly as popular or accepted as it is now, and if you read my blog article on the best sushi restaurants in Denver, Colorado, I mention what it was like growing up in the 80s taking a rice ball for lunch wrapped in nori (seaweed). An experience, I heard “ewwwww” more times than I can count, which prepared me for dating life. On top of that, add in all the redneck jokes at the time were “sushi, I don’t eat fish bait.”

As a Japanese American, the media was no better, and I constantly saw non-Asians speaking on behalf of Asians about all sorts of Asian food. I always wondered why they never highlighted Asian-owned businesses or asked an actual Asian person about Asian food, even though I had my suspicions about why. That approach was so commonplace it felt normal, but it was not until 2016, with the power of social media, that Asians could finally push back en masse.

One such example was Bon Appétit highlighting Stock in Philadelphia (the link is to their apology page). The pho restaurant was owned and operated by Tyler Akin, and Bon Appetit said they liked it (cuz not Asian, and they identified with that), and wanted to highlight it, which also reveals their cards that they would rather promote dude, than the Vietnamese owned and operated pho joints in Philly.

It was not too long ago to hear jokes calling sushi “fish bait,” and major media outlets like Bon Appetit who were recently hyping “pho is the new ramen,” and how to eat it in 2016.
Bourdain did a lot to shape American food culture because he was on the inside, versus an outsider.

The video, which I watched at the time but has been taken down, along with the fallout from it which I engaged on Social Media to also defend Tyler Akin. A stance, not so popular with my fellow Asian cohorts, which elicited the fun happy name calling of being a traitor because I knew it was BA that was the culprit, not Chef Akin. I knew, Bon Appetit and every other Eurocentric media outlet at the time would never engage the Asian community and Akin was their conduit, their poster child into the foreign.

I couldn’t care less if you are White, Black or Latino talking about or hyping Japanese food because many non-Asians, and non-Japanese take immense interest into foreign cultures, and they become the experts on things that many assume to know, just because they grew up in the environment.

My issue to this day are the hacks who tout “authentic Japanese” or “best ramen,” when they have absolutely no clue about the culture or food.

For a more in-depth piece capturing the time in Bourdain’s life in Japan, InsideHook.com and Tanner Garrity “Revisiting the Essay That Launched Anthony Bourdain’s Career,” show you why I respect the writing field, and why I would never claim to be one.

A brand for the majority of us (all for around $100)

Many Japanese products are not priced only for the elite or the top 1%. From knives to cars (Lexus LS400, Acura NSX, to the Nissan GT-R (click here for my full article on Japan and value), and they were all meant to be attainable for the average Daisuke, Igor, or Thuy.

Global, like many Japanese brands strive to produce a product high on value. A balance of qualities at an affordable price that every salaryman, Joe, Juan, Jane and Anya can afford.
Does the Average Joe need a Ferrari 488. No, but I do, but that is aside the point. The point is, I view Global as the Lexus of knives because for the average user, it’s the perfect balance.

Global is a relatively new company, which at the time was only a year before the release of the first Top Gun movie and when Bourdain was only a wee 29 years old (damn, I was a tween).

“There’s a ton of other brands that offer more value” is something you will hear hardcore knife enthusiasts say, and they are not wrong. Like most people who are really into something, though, it is a myopic view. Yes, there are other Japanese, American, and German brands that rival and in some cases exceed Global’s value, but I wrote this article because Global delivers three big things: scale, consistency, and an overall balance of qualities for both professional and amateur chefs and cooks.

Below is an excerpt from an epic exclusive post-election interview with the culinary celebrity host of Parts Unknown by Alexander Bisely.

Bisley: I remember the outer islands of French Polynesia; including meeting lovely indigenous people for whom dog-eating is an occasional traditional practice.

Bourdain: Let’s call this criticism what it is: racism. There are a lot of practices from the developing world that I find personally repellent, from my privileged Western point of view. But I don’t feel like I have such a moral high ground that I can walk around lecturing people in developing nations on how they should live their lives.
– Alexander Bisely, Reason.com

The Global product line

“As a starter chef knife, the Global is pretty good for a first timer,” says Bourdain at the premier of the documentary Wasted! The Story of Food Waste.
– According to Today.com

“Most of the professionals I know have for years been retiring their Wusthofs and replacing them with lightweight, easy-to-sharpen and relatively inexpensive vanadium steel Global knives, a very good Japanese product that has—in addition to its many other fine qualities—the added attraction of looking really cool.”
– Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain

Global product line comparison

The highlighted fields are the distinctive distinguishing features between Global’s three product lines: A. Classic, B. SAI, and C. Ukon.

I would recommend Global for these qualities:

I have always come across the other product lines by Global, but I currently only own the Classic line of products because it’s, well, classic.

1. An ergonomic design aesthetic which contributes to their in-hand feel, 2. Balance, the hollow handles are filled with fine grain sand. 3. “One-piece” design is easy to clean and hygienic, 4. proprietary CROMOVA 18 and ice tempered and hardened stainless steel is a great balance between durability (edge retention), and rust resistance. 5. The edges are ground steeply to a point.
Just like a Honda S2000 (AP1/AP2) with polyurethane motor mounts and manual transmission is not meant for everyone.

The Japanese compete on quality, not price. So you get what you pay for and there is no shell game of “was ~~$1,499~~, now $275,” a tactic commonly used by marketers of Chinese made knives being implied to be Japanese.

CLASSIC	SAI	UKON
$44.95-$249.99	$99.99-$229.99	$59-$399.99
The blade is constructed of a single piece of steel, with a unique convex edge for unsurpassed performance.	The first new cutlery line produced by Global in more than 25 years	UKON means “the union of the traditional and the new” in Japanese, reflecting the design language of the new knife, while retaining all the features that make a GLOBAL knife unique
Made of hollow handles which are then filled with sand to achieve the desired weight and deliver the perfect balance.	Special three-ply blade construction made from corrosion-resistant 18/8 and CROMOVA 18 stainless steel	10% sharper than previous collections
Perfectly balanced knives provide optimal control.	Unique convex edge of the blade makes cuts smoother, requiring less energy.	Sleek, modern design with razor sharp edge that retains its edge longer than other premium knives
The blade is made of the finest stainless steel called CROMOVA 18 (Chromium, Molybdenum and Vanadium), designed exclusively for GLOBAL®.	Perfectly balanced and ergonomic handles designed in the traditional Japanese bushido way of the Samurai.	Thicker blade for added strength
Ice tempered and hardened to Rockwell C56 – C58 degrees which holds the razor-sharp edge of the blade longer than any other steel.	12.5-degree blade edge is mirror-polished by hand for exceptional long-lasting endurance.	CROMOVA 18 stainless steel, resistant to staining and chipping and easy to keep clean
Ergonomic, stainless steel hygienic handles with signature dimple pattern offer a comfortable, slip-resistant grip.	Unique thumb rest gives added comfort and control.	Dimpled handle provides a comfortable, slip resistant grip
	Each blade is individually hammered by hand and designed so that small hollows create air pockets between the blade so food elegantly falls away from the surface.

Product highlights are direct quotes by Global.

“I made extra money by playing poker and acey-deucey, another card game,”
– Anthony Bourdain

Classic

“Perfectly balanced Global Classic knives designed for performance.” The knives are 3-pieces, the stamped CROMOVA 18 steel, tig welded hollow handles filled with fine grain sand to add weight to the handle and balance the knife.
Designed by industrial designer, Komin Yamada

Anthony Bourdain’s goto knife was a Global 8″ for good reason, it’s quality general purpose knife for all of us.

SAI Collection

There is really no set marketing pitch for the SAI line, but I would describe it as having a Luigi Colani biodynamic design, or what most would associate to being “H.R. Giger’esque” look to it.
It is the first new cutlery line produced by Global in more than 25 years and includes a tsuchime hand finish.

You see the ergonomically designed indention, it’s for your finger, along with tsuchime (hammered finish done by hand) to help food to release from the blade. The generic Global plug word for word is “seamless, hygienic one-piece, stainless-steel construction, professional performance, ergonomic thumb rests and signature dimples on the handles.”

Ukon

“GLOBAL UKON brings the sharp precision of GLOBAL Classic to a new design, with a wider handle and a thicker spine.” – Global
“A 10% increase in sharpness”.

Pictured: a Japanese santoku knife style/profile with hollow ground/granton edge. The scalloped grooves on the sides of the blade edge helps with reducing friction and sticking of foods and are available on all their lines.

Accessories

Why buy Global? They offer ease and convenience, plus what the Japanese are known for: exceptional service (Williams Sonoma, Sur La Table, Crate & Barrel, and similar retailers). Many Chinese brands are imitators, like Kamikoto, which copies Shun, but after the sale, good luck getting help with any issues or servicing your product.
Try to name a well respected or loved Chinese brand, you’ll struggle which is why many Chinese brands pretend to be Japanese. Service is an afterthought.

Unlike other smaller brands, Global is able to provide a family of accessories suited to caring and maintaining your Global knives with ease.

Also called Honing Steel. A ceramic or diamond-coated steel used to sharpen the blade of kitchen knives.

G-91/S/B / Ceramic Water Sharpener – Stainless

Two-stage, handheld ceramic water stone sharpener for a complete sharpening process.
The first stage of sharpening, use the white coarse wheel to sharpen dull and chipped edges.
The second stage, use the pink fine wheel for standard sharpening and polishing the blade edges.
Safe and easy-to-use knife sharpener for any kitchen.