About 7 years ago, a friend lost the one quality skillet I owned. The pan was originally a gift, and when I went to replace it, I had massive sticker shock. My previous cookware had been pretty mediocre, so a quality pan was a revelation. It cooked food better and more evenly, allowed me to be more versatile and creative in the kitchen, and was so much fun to use. While I didn’t want to downgrade, I couldn’t justify the price of replacing the pan that was lost. The fact that I couldn’t find quality cookware for a fair price stuck with me.

A few years later, I had the same experience while searching for a new chef’s knife. There didn’t seem to be any high quality options at an affordable price. Again, this really bothered me, because I knew how much quality kitchen tools could improve the cooking experience. At some point, it came together, and I knew selling quality kitchen tools directly to customers online was the answer.

Two years ago, we launched our very first product on Kickstarter — the Misen Chef’s Knife. An incredible Chef’s Knife made with premium Japanese steel, thoughtfully designed, and sold for only $65. After a 30 day Kickstarter campaign, thanks to the help over over 13,000 incredible backers and some kind words from people we truly respect, we raised over $1 Million. Since then, we’ve been busy, recently launching our second campaign on Kickstarter for Misen Cookware.

We’ve been thrilled and humbled at the response we’ve received — and the fact that people are just as excited as we are about premium kitchen tools no longer having to cost a fortune. More to come soon.

We founded Misen to help people cook better, and before a single sketch was made, measurement taken or material considered, we bonded over the idea of what great cooking means to us. While we tip our hat to the dedicated molecular gastronomist, to us, great cooking boils down to something much less complicated: delicious, fresh ingredients, prepared with a few simple techniques using quality tools.

“Ingredients, equipment, and techniques — these are the fundamentals of cooking”

Our mission is to inspire and enable great cooking, and to us well-made tools are absolutely essential to that. From perfect golden sears with a quality pan, to beautifully sliced vegetables with a sharp knife, we believe that better tools make for better cooking, and better meals. So whether you’re cooking a dinner party for 12, or a quiet meal at home alone, we hope Misen can help you make your cooking better, starting with an amazing knife at an honest price.