The story
From a woodshed in 2020 to the shop at Teknostallen in 2025
Trondheim
A borrowed knife
It started in 2020 with a Japanese gyuto (chef’s knife) David Phan had borrowed, and a tomato. It cut clean slices and the juice stayed in. Hence the name.
The first year was a home-made bench and a couple of whetstones. In 2021 came regular agreements with restaurant kitchens. HADO was the first brand we took on.
Since 2020
The years
2020
It started in a 1 m² woodshed, with local sharpening and collection in Trondheim.
2021
We moved from Heimdal into our first workshop at Fossegrenda. We took sharpening orders on the website every day.
2022
We start selling sharpening equipment, and the first whetstones go on sale. From now on Tomatosharp is also a shop.
2023
We had our first stand at a food festival in Trondheim. The same year we travelled to the smiths in Japan for the first time, with a grant from SpareBank 1 SMN.
2024
We sponsor young and experienced chefs, among them the Norwegian team competing in the Bocuse d’Or. We also start our own knife series, Saisei, with used knives restored in the workshop.
July 2025
Our first pop-up opens: Knivsjappa at Bakklandet in Trondheim
24 November 2025
We open Norway’s largest knife shop with its own sharpening workshop at Teknostallen
21 April 2026
We introduce Saisei IRO, an extension of our own series, now with handles made in Trondheim from upcycled plastic
Japan
To the smiths every year
Every year we travel to Japan to meet the people who make the knives and see how they work. We buy the knives in the shop from the same workshops.
The workshop and Saisei
The knife has somewhere to go after the purchase.
The workshop sharpens by hand, repairs tips and chips and fits new handles, also on knives bought elsewhere. The same workshop restores the Saisei knives. We buy your knife.
We hope the knife earns a permanent place in your kitchen for many years.
