Dennis Epstein, the driving force behind Apogee Culinary Designs, has been at the forefront of kitchen knife progress for almost 30 years. He introduced the revered Japanese brand Shun to the American market and launched the popular Sky and Rain series with legendary knifemaker Ken Onion. His latest innovation comes in the form of Apogee’s Dragon series, which features the first kitchen knives to use revolutionary BD1N steel, praised by knife makers for its combined hardness and edge retention.

We asked Dennis for a knife made from BD1N steel that would guide chefs into a comfortable pinch grip, and he delivered a fantastic prototype, pictured here. Based on feedback from professional chefs, we’ve improved the design by rounding the spine (to make it more comfortable), making the handle 3 millimeters thinner (easier to grip for any sized hands), extending the taper forward (for a better thumb rest), and extending the blade’s heel back (to keep the index finger on the bolster while maintaining full pinch on the blade).