Cutting boards that are too fancy to cut on? Now that's class!

When you reach the point of having cutting boards that are, you know, too fancy to cut on, like these olive-wood beauties Bobby Flay's so fond of, well, my gosh, then you've got some kind of class.

by Ken

I don't mean to rag on Bobby Flay. Well, not much anyway. I like Bobby. Who doesn't like Bobby? Bobby can cook, and the fact is, Bobby cooks a lot, both on TV and off. So when he has suggestions for stuff that can happen in a kitchen, there's a good chance that I'm going to be interested. But . . . but . . .

Somehow I got snagged into the eerie online world of OpenSky, where an endless parade of items of all sorts is promoted by a vast roster of celebrities, including many culinary ones. It's only the food-and-cooking stuff I "follow," and I've come to actually look with fascination at the steady stream of, um, stuff. A surprising number of these items are interesting to know about, and even tempting, or they might be tempting if I could afford to be tempted just now.

The stuff Tom Colicchio brings to the table is almost always intriguing, and just about always accompanied by pertinent recipe(s). If I could afford to cook at that level -- and here I mean not that level of skill (though I have enormous respect for Tom's skills) but at that level of expenditure -- I might well order a lot of the food products he recommends. I'm often intrigued by Ming Tsai's picks too. (I just revisited OpenSky to get some links for this post, and after figuring out a little more about how the site works, I checked off a few more culinary people to "follow." Hey, it doesn't cost anything.)

But then there's another category of products, things that are functional, yes, but go far enough beyond functionality as to activate some little voice inside me that shouts, "Really? Really???" And a lot of Bobby Flay's recommendations fall into this category. I accept that they all do the jobs Bobby uses them for, or I sincerely believe he wouldn't be recommending them. But most of their, er, appeal goes well beyond, or around, function.

The fact is that Bobby can afford this stuff, and so too can many of his OpenSky followers. And it's not that I'm begrudging people stuff they can afford, to use as, say, "conversation pieces" (we'll get to this in a moment), especially stuff that really isn't junk, that actually is functional. I mean, just because yours truly can't afford it doesn't mean that people who can should be deprived of the opportunity.

Somewhat to my surprise, I don't even feel deprived, since I have near-zero interest in this stuff's other-than-functional qualities. Still, still . . . there's something that makes me the least bit crazy, or despairing, or something. It's clear that cutting boards too ritzy to cut on pushed a button of mine.

Here's what Bobby has to say about the olive-wood cutting boards.

I keep a few different cutting boards in my kitchen. I’ve got my thick Boos board [see below -- Ed.] to do the dirty work and heavy chopping. I have some plastic ones that I use for all my raw meats and fish because I can throw them right into the dishwasher. And I have a few beautiful, rustic olive wood ones that I reserve for lighter prep work and serving. They are displayed on my counter and they are truly a great conversation piece.

Of course I can cut on these rustic-looking olive boards but I like using them as a serving platter. They are light weight but sturdy, each piece is unique, and great for slicing up something like charcuterie in the kitchen and carrying out to the dining table.

You can't get these specific boards anywhere else in the States. They are made by craftsmen in Tuscany who cut down giant olive trees and season the wood for 3 to 5 years before they start working with them. You can feel the handmade quality when you get your hands on them - it's not something you find every day. And get this... they even smell like olives. How cool is that?

Way cool, Bobby, way cool.


HERE'S BOBBY'S BOOS BOARD

Bobby says:

As a chef, prep work is a huge part of what I do. Chopping vegetables and making marinades, salsas, and relishes is a necessary part of creating any great dish. One thing that makes life a little easier when you're prepping is having a nice big cutting board with surface area. That is why I love my Boos Chopping Block.

These days I have the Boos Walnut Round End Grain Chopping Block out on my kitchen counter. I use it every single day. It is super heavy and thick so it won’t skid around on the counter while I chop. Its large surface area means I can chop away and still have room to keep working until all my dishes are prepped. There's even enough room for two people to work off of the same cutting board.

Every Boos block is individually handcrafted and made of beautiful solid wood. I have the round walnut board--it's nice enough to use for serving. In fact, sometimes I use it to serve cheese when friends come over for cocktails.

POSTSCRIPT: IF YOU WANT TO SEE CULINARY CRAP . . .

Look at the atticloads of junk Andrew Zimmern and "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro peddle on OpenSky.

(I have no firsthand knowledge of how the finances of this operation work, but wouldn't you figure the celebrity pushers get a cut of each piece of crap they sell?)


UPDATE: NO LOVE FOR BOBBY

We have an unequivocal "no on Bobby" vote in the comments.

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