services, shopping
Nothing was cutting it in my kitchen the other day so I gathered tons of large and small knives and took them down to Northwestern Cutlery for resharpening.
Besides good knives 
I have many small inexpensive ones with serrated edges that supposedly "never need sharpening" but they surely did at last after many, many years of use. To my amazement, Marty Petlicki, the capable manager (see photo) said they can sharpen those too, even retaining the serrations. Knives are generally $3.50 each to sharpen and if you don't have too many they'll even do it while you wait.
Another great bonus. This place carries all manner of name brand kitchenware, from pots and pans (All-Clad and cast iron enamelled LeCreuset, Calphalon and more) to countless other kitchen items and of course, marvelous knives (Henckels and Wusthoff among others). They sell and embroider uniforms too. I was shocked at the low prices with discounts ranging from 20 to 40% off suggested retail.
This business began about twenty years ago by renting knives to restaurants and meat plants and sharpening them when they got "tired". They also sold kits of kitchen supplies to students at Washburn Trade School. Filling special requests led to a burgeoning business in kitchen paraphernalia. Kendall College's school of cullinary arts buys their kitchenware for classroom use here and specifies items students need to purchase, at a discount of course.
Northwestern Cutlery is just west of Halsted at 810 W.Lake and they've even got a free parking lot just west of the store. 312.421.3666.
