Meet Max Albert | Custom Knife Artisan, Former Executive Chef

We had the good fortune of connecting with Max Albert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Max, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Prior to starting my own business and venturing down the road of making kitchen knives, I was an executive Chef in Los Angeles. I had dabbled in making knives during this time. The more I had delved into the process of how to make knives, the more fascinated I was in what we small niche of knife makers call, “functional art.”

With my experience as a chef, and using a tool in my hand to fabricate knives, I had realized there was a void in appreciation to high quality knives that the general public are not even aware of.
So I wanted to make my own spin on knives creating technical procedures in a knife that’s never been seen before.

My mindset, before leaving my position as an executive chef and starting my own business in hand made knives, was that if I could be a successful chef with the hard work and commitment to principles that I learned in the food industry, then I could do anything so long as a commit whole heartedly.

And so, Majime Knives was Born in 2018.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Majime Knives began in 2018 for the sole purpose of making kitchen cutlery that’s never been seen before in the form of art and function. My knives have a very unique performance to them. While I could explain all technical terminology on what I do to make them outperform any knife, they have specific attributes that haven’t been seen on a large scale production.
The purpose of making these knives is to offer a solution. You ever get annoyed how everything sticks to your knife and you have to wipe it off with your hand? The cucumber the rolls off the cutting board, or the starchy potato that is plastered to the blade? The way that my knives are made solve that. Nothing sticks to the blade, everything stays in its place, and is easier to cut making everything feel like warm butter.
Making custom knives takes hard work, and the most important factor: failure. I had to fail in order to create knives that succeed.
This year is the most pivotal and exciting year of my business. While my knives can range between 1400 to 2100 thousand dollars. I have now started producing an affordable large sale production, the Majime Limited Edition Gyuto which had an incredible success in the pre order campaign last November.
The Majime Limited Edition Gyuto (chef knife) is the first large scaled production knife in history that has the “feather grind.”
What this means is that everything you cut feels smooth, easy with no tension and pressure to cut, and most importantly generates a food release where nothing sticks to the blade.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
You know, I wish I could be the best friend, because I still have yet to discover Atlantas beautiful scenery. We moved last year in march during the pandemic, so we have been shackled down taking care of our son and 6 month baby.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Without hesitation, My wife has been my backbone in pursuing a passion of mine. My son and daughter, Faizi and Luisa, were equally the reason why I pursued my passion. To show them that anything can be achieved with commitment, love, and faith.

Website: majimeknives.com

Instagram: instagram.com/majimeknives