up for a couple bucks a pair. Otherwise, you can find
acceptable models online, like the Extra-Long Chopsticks
from Hong Kong Imports Ltd. ($2).
- Wine Key
Regular corkscrews and $100 rabbit-shaped models will get
your cork out, and fast. But with a little practice, a waiter’s
wine key will open wine bottles (and beers) just as fast, and
make you look infinitely cooler. The key is to use it as a
lever. If you are pulling on it hard, you’re doing it wrong! I
keep a few in my cutlery drawer (like pens and razors, they
tend to wander off into the world on their own from time to
time), as well as one in my knife kit. - Citrus Juicer
Every professional kitchen has its own hazing rituals, and as
a young chef-in-training, I endured a period of time—a
good eight months or so—when my first duty every single
morning was to ream twenty-four limes, twenty-four
lemons, and a dozen oranges for fresh juice to use on the
line during service. And the only tool I was allowed to use
to do the job (lest I risk being called a wimp—believe me, a
wimp is the last thing you want to be in the macho world of
professional kitchens) was a wood lemon reamer from
Scandicrafts, Inc. ($4). It was two weeks before I could
complete the task from start to finish without taking a break
to nurse my painfully swollen hands, and I went through
four of the reamers in the course of those eight months,
slowly wearing them down until the grooved edges on the
business end were as smooth and soft as river stones.