Brown Heritage Roll on kitchen counter

OUR STORY

Designed with over 850 chefs

The story on how we made a knife roll worth carrying for a career.

THE CHEF RESEARCH ENGINE

Feedback from the field

For two months: we contacted hundreds of chefs from all around the world on Instagram and LinkedIn, to build a knife roll that chefs actually wanted. We began by sending chefs to a survey that asked quantitative questions about their current knife roll, what they liked, and what they didn't like. This informed our first prototype, and from there, we continued to survey and gather data based on feedback. Over the following weeks, we started to get on calls with select chefs to begin the qualitative feedback loop which would help us make the next prototype. Once we gathered enough data from the surveys and calls, we begin bringing our next prototype into real kitchens where chefs would test it for a week at a time. The notes from those weeks reshaped the design in ways no survey could.

THE PROTOTYPE JOURNEY

Every detail of the Heritage Roll started somewhere with the chef.

  1. Brown leather knife roll on a white background 01

    Prototype I

    Glenn made the first prototype before our first meeting. No design brief, no measurements, just his read on what a knife roll could be.

  2. Black knife roll with a gold zipper on a white background 02

    Prototype II

    This is when we got our first survey feedback loop. The survey ran through five to eight iterations as chef responses flowed in followed by 15-minute call interviews which helped define the pockets, and functionality.

  3. Brown knife roll with a chart on a white background 03

    Prototype III

    This next prototype went into real kitchens in the Boston area for a full week. These chefs used the knife roll during shifts and in the conditions it was built for. The notes from the chefs helped us add a business card slot, top-flap pockets, multi-size knife sleeves, and small tool inserts.

  4. Heritage Roll unrolled and opened canvas 04

    The Heritage Roll

    From there, the Heritage Roll was made by Glenn Cooper with full-grain leather, solid brass, marked with our bull logo and a leather quality tag. The final knife roll was built to last a career in the kitchen and wherever your knives take you.

Two men, Jason and Glenn, founder and artisan holding a knife roll

THE MAKER

The prototype journey ended at Glenn Cooper's bench.

Twenty to twenty-five manufacturers in the Boston area got cold-emailed to see if our idea was possible. Glenn Cooper was hands-down the best. Glenn works out of the Smith tannery in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Today, every Heritage Roll is cut, stitched, and finished by Glenn at his bench in that building.

Read about Glenn

THE HERITAGE ROLL

Yours to break in.

Hand-stitched in Norwood. Free lifetime repair from the same bench that made it.

Shop the Heritage Roll