Chefs and their Spoons

Tasting spoons are common in kitchens around the world. Find out the stories behind our chefs favorite tasting spoons.

When I got into the business all of the cooks had their own spoons. Some where antique silver and some just cheap spoons that you would acquire. My favorite spoons are the antique silver type with a deep bowl. They make perfect quenelles and are nice to plate with. I stopped using them, because they would get lost or someone would take them. I switched to spoons that were less likely to be borrowed because so many cooks use the same kind now, which is what so many refer to as the gray kunz spoon. They come in different sizes and are perforated as well. They just seem to be the right size for whatever we are plating in the kitchen.

Joseph Lenn, Executive Chef of The Barn at Blackberry Farm

The spoon that I have used the longest is a silver plates app from a United States Navy wardroom setting used in flag mess formal settings. I rescued it from an antique store not long after starting at Blackberry Farm. It is a simple reminder to me of my past service. You could say that it helps to pull at my patriotic strings.

Josh Feathers, Corporate Chef at Blackberry Farm

I found mine at the antique store down the road from Blackberry. It was tucked away in an old shoe box filled with bent forks and flimsy old spoons. I love the ornate design that acts as a balance for the deep cupped spoon. Our spoons are an extension of our hands during plating and much like a painters brush; each spoon serves a different purpose. This is my favorite saucing spoon. Each chef adds some sort of marker to their spoons, colored tape, a drop of nail polish or a burn pattern. Not mine! Chef Joseph Lenn took all my fancy old spoons and drimmled my nickname (that he and the kitchen crew from 2005
gave me) in all of them...In KISS lettering he wrote, Sissy.

Cassidee Dabney, Executive Sous Chef of the Barn

My favorite spoon is my Richcraft chefs spoon. It's a great all purpose spoon. It is very common, but it is important to me because of how I got it. My wife gave me this spoon as a gift for Christmas. She just picked it out as an after thought, but it was one of the most memorable gifts she gave me that year. I had wanted this spoon for years, but had never got around to buying for myself. I had never mentioned it to her, but somehow she just picked the one I had wanted. Every once and awhile spoons will disappear and never return. It never really bothered me to lose a spoon because other ones will come along. This one is the only one that I become nervous when I can't find it. It just means more to me than any other spoon I have had.

Steve Leitner, Sous Chef of the Barn

Tasting spoons are common in kitchens around the world. Find out the stories behind our chefs favorite tasting spoons.

When I got into the business all of the cooks had their own spoons. Some where antique silver and some just cheap spoons that you would acquire. My favorite spoons are the antique silver type with a deep bowl. They make perfect quenelles and are nice to plate with. I stopped using them, because they would get lost or someone would take them. I switched to spoons that were less likely to be borrowed because so many cooks use the same kind now, which is what so many refer to as the graykunz spoon. They come in different sizes and are perforated as well. They just seem to be the right size for whatever we are plating in the kitchen.

Joseph Lenn, Executive Chef of The Barn at Blackberry Farm

The spoon that I have used the longest is a silver plates app from a United States Navy wardroom setting used in flag mess formal settings. I rescued it from an antique store not long after starting at Blackberry Farm. It is a simple reminder to me of my past service. You could say that it helps to pull at my patriotic strings.

Josh Feathers, Corporate Chef at Blackberry Farm

I found mine at the antique store down the road from Blackberry. It was tucked away in an old shoe box filled with bent forks and flimsy old spoons. I love the ornate design that acts as a balance for the deep cupped spoon. Our spoons are an extension of our hands during plating and much like a painters brush; each spoon serves a different purpose. This is my favorite saucing spoon. Each chef adds some sort of marker to their spoons, colored tape, a drop of nail polish or a burn pattern. Not mine! Chef Joseph Lenn took all my fancy old spoons and drimmled my nickname (that he and the kitchen crew from 2005
gave me) in all of them...In KISS lettering he wrote, Sissy.

Cassidee Dabney, Executive Sous Chef of the Barn

My favorite spoon is my Richcraft chefs spoon. It's a great all purpose spoon. It is very common, but it is important to me because of how I got it. My wife gave me this spoon as a gift for Christmas. She just picked it out as an after thought, but it was one of the most memorable gifts she gave me that year. I had wanted this spoon for years, but had never got around to buying for myself. I had never mentioned it to her, but somehow she just picked the one I had wanted. Every once and awhile spoons will disappear and never return. It never really bothered me to lose a spoon because other ones will come along. This one is the only one that I become nervous when I can't find it. It just means more to me than any other spoon I have had.

Steve Leitner, Sous Chef of the Barn

Tasting spoons are common in kitchens around the world. Find out the stories behind our chefs favorite tasting spoons.

When I got into the business all of the cooks had their own spoons. Some where antique silver and some just cheap spoons that you would acquire. My favorite spoons are the antique silver type with a deep bowl. They make perfect quenelles and are nice to plate with. I stopped using them, because they would get lost or someone would take them. I switched to spoons that were less likely to be borrowed because so many cooks use the same kind now, which is what so many refer to as the gray kunz spoon. They come in different sizes and are perforated as well. They just seem to be the right size for whatever we are plating in the kitchen.

Joseph Lenn, Executive Chef of The Barn at Blackberry Farm

The spoon that I have used the longest is a silver plates app from a United States Navy wardroom setting used in flag mess formal settings. I rescued it from an antique store not long after starting at Blackberry Farm. It is a simple reminder to me of my past service. You could say that it helps to pull at my patriotic strings.

Josh Feathers, Corporate Chef at Blackberry Farm

I found mine at the antique store down the road from Blackberry. It was tucked away in an old shoe box filled with bent forks and flimsy old spoons. I love the ornate design that acts as a balance for the deep cupped spoon. Our spoons are an extension of our hands during plating and much like a painters brush; each spoon serves a different purpose. This is my favorite saucing spoon. Each chef adds some sort of marker to their spoons, colored tape, a drop of nail polish or a burn pattern. Not mine! Chef Joseph Lenn took all my fancy old spoons and drimmled my nickname (that he and the kitchen crew from 2005
gave me) in all of them...In KISS lettering he wrote, Sissy.

Cassidee Dabney, Executive Sous Chef of the Barn

My favorite spoon is my Richcraft chefs spoon. It's a great all purpose spoon. It is very common, but it is important to me because of how I got it. My wife gave me this spoon as a gift for Christmas. She just picked it out as an after thought, but it was one of the most memorable gifts she gave me that year. I had wanted this spoon for years, but had never got around to buying for myself. I had never mentioned it to her, but somehow she just picked the one I had wanted. Every once and awhile spoons will disappear and never return. It never really bothered me to lose a spoon because other ones will come along. This one is the only one that I become nervous when I can't find it. It just means more to me than any other spoon I have had.

Steve Leitner, Sous Chef of the Barn