Custom cutlery maker, restaurant supplier ZimKnives to open store

A Milwaukee creator of custom cutlery will open a store as he moves the business to a new location this summer.

Nate Zimmerman, the owner of ZimKnives, now crafts his pieces from a workshop on East Abert Place in Milwaukee. ZimKnives is moving to 4404 W. North Ave. The space had been the home of the late Dan Devalk's Fine Lines Customz auto shop. Zimmerman said he acquired the building and plans to use it for a new workshop and store.

ZimKnives started in 2012. Creating knives began as a hobby, Zimmerman said, but the volume of custom orders grew ZimKnives into his primary line of work – although he also sharpens knives under the Sharp Brothers brand.

He describes his creations as high-performing kitchen tools that are also works of art. Each knife is made one at a time, Zimmerman said, and he sits with customers to discuss what a piece will be used for and how they want it to look.

For example, he embedded pages from "Charlotte's Web" into the handle of a knife ordered by a fan of the book.

"There's just so much to explore within the shape of a knife – the material it's made from, the color of it, the texture, the overall form of it," Zimmerman said.

ZimKnives started in Zimmerman's parents’ Waukesha home. Through relationships and word of mouth, he said the business has attracted orders from Milwaukee restaurateurs, including chef Justin Carlisle, who sought 30 steak knives for his fine-dining restaurant Ardent.

At the time, Zimmerman said, he didn't know who Carlisle was, other than a chef and restaurateur. After the meeting, he discovered the order had been placed by an acclaimed chef who owns what has become one of the Milwaukee area's most upscale restaurants.

The order from Carlisle helped Zimmerman move ZimKnives out of his parents’ place to the current workshop. Seeking to build equity, he's now moving to a building he owns.

At the new space, Zimmerman said he hopes to bring more visibility to ZimKnives.

"I can spread my opinions about cutlery, teach people how to take care of their knives, how to keep them sharp," he said.

With his storefront, Zimmerman said he plans to fill what he sees as a gap in the Milwaukee market. Examples of expected merchandise include sharpening stones and other tools to take care of knives between visits to a professional sharpener.

He also plans to sell kitchen knives from other purveyors he would recommend for home cooks.

"Not everybody wants to buy an $800 chef's knife," Zimmerman said. "I couldn't afford to buy one of my own knives, so it's silly for me to expect everybody to be able to. I would like to help people sort through all the crap knives out there and get the stuff that's actually worth the money."

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