According to Goyon-Chazeau family lore, in 1957 Solange Goyon and her friends were preparing a large batch of vegetables for a communal village feast. Frustrated by the knives on hand, she asked her husband to devise a better blade. The result was The P'tit Tradi: a small knife that was passed down through generations of Goyon-Chazeaus. Decades later, the design was updated and released to the world.

With its 4" blade and weighing just under two ounces, it’s a paring knife in the truest sense. We use it to peel apples, hull strawberries, trim beans, and slice a lemon for the table. The full tang, riveted through the aged walnut handle, gives it a sturdiness and balance that few small knives have.

This is the knife that never stops working. The stainless blade stands up to acidic fruit and a wet countertop; the walnut improves with handling, and nothing about it needs babying. It has been doing the same honest work since 1957.