Behind the Knife - tools, food, and the secret lives of chefs

Chef Profile: Robbie Bellew

Of stickers, dissecting knives, and prison shanks...

The Chef: Catering/Banquet Chef Robbie Bellew of French Lick Resort in French Lick, Indiana.

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The Toolbox: When Bellew started culinary school in 1991, all students were given a standard-issue knife roll bag. Through three years of school, his gear quickly outgrew the roll, so he set out to buy the toughest one he could find. “My Rubbermaid box has been the best investment to protect my tools,” he said. “It’s survived many kitchens, heat, four states, two kids, and being used as a stepstool.”

Perhaps the most unique thing about the box are the stickers that plaster the box. “The stickers tell a story, they reflect a point in time for me,” he said. “Some are funny, some are meaningful, and some are all about cheese.”

The Tools: Too many to mention, though he does give it the old college try. “Every time I look into my toolbox, I go back in time,” he admits.

He prefers the Henckels 4-Star for his everyday knives, but he’s partial to an old carbon steel 12-inch chef’s knife that he says maintains a very sharp blade.

Currently, his favorite tool is the Kuhn Rikon Peeler, and says the next purchase on his list will be a Kuhn Rikon Corn Zipper.

His You’re Kidding, Right? Tools: First, a biology dissection kit, which he purchased to work with aspic.

Next, a fish scaler that came direct from his tackle box, “which shows you how often I get to go fishing.”

Then, foot-shaped cookie cutters. “These were used for a large event that requested foot-shaped cookies. Don’t ask,” he warned.

Okay, we won’t.

And now, my personal favorite: The Prison Shank. Bellew explains:

“We were preparing vegetables for a large event, the paring knives just weren’t cutting it (sorry!) for the baby zucchini. Fellow chef Paul Owens invented this little tool that looks like a prison shank, made with a piece of putty, three razor blades, and red duct tape.”

Bellew is quick to tell me that it was sanitized prior to use. “It worked like a champ and made the job a lot easier, but we haven’t used it since, which explains the rust,” he says. Then why keep it in your box? “As a trophy.”