This was from a knife handling class at Williams Sonoma in the Time Warner Center, here in NYC. While both of these techniques work very efficiently, the first one is more suited to "restaurant" slicing, ie, the emphasis is on cutting identically sized pieces for maximum visual effect but more waste, while the second is the "kitchen" technique which uses more of the vegetable with mix of sizes and shapes of pieces. Note all scraps go to the "vegetarian dog."
The first chef prefers using a Shun santoku knife and a paring knife, while the second prefers the heavier Wüsthof cook's knife.
I use the Wüsthof Classic 7-Inch hollow edge santoku.
They gave recommendations for two professional knife sharpeners in NYC: Margery Cohen's Samurai Sharpening, and Henry Westpfal at 107 W. 30th St. Margery's is a one-woman business, and she shows up every Wednesday and Saturday at the Chelsea Market.
Update: Henry's business will be moving to New Jersey--his last "grinding day" will be May 11th.
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