Are you a gourmand on the go? You just might need a folding chef’s knife. Your new road buddy? The Adventure Chef Collection from Messermeister.

Inspiration for Folding Chef’s Knife

Adam Glick likes to move. He has traveled almost 100,000 nautical miles. On land, he’s taken five road trips back and forth across America. He’s an avid outdoorsman — a former Eagle Scout who loves to hike, fish, and surf.

Adam Glick also likes to cook. He has been a chef at some of San Diego’s finest restaurants and onboard luxury yachts. But he also likes to cook outdoors. Over his campfire, he prepares meals his mom taught him to make when he was a boy — like chicken-fried steak.

“Nothing but nature — that’s how we’re supposed to eat.”
—Adam Glick, Stoked

“Whenever I’m out in the wild and I know I can only bring a few things, I need to be selective so they don’t weigh me down on route to my destination,” Glick has said. “Being that I always cook fresh food wherever I am, I used to bring a bulky kitchen knife roll and my utility pocket knife on all my trips.”

But knocking around with a chef’s knife in your vehicle or your camping kit is inconvenient and unsafe. And, assembling a meal with only a pocket knife is both frustrating and impractical.

The desire for something better sparked ideas for the Adventure Chef Collection. A set of folding cooking knives. An interesting concept because cooking knives, chef knives in particular, don’t typically lend themselves to folders.

Kickstarted

Glick partnered with Kirsten Dressler Wilson of Messermeister to launch a Kickstarter project last year, and it took off. Glick went with Kickstarter because it was the right avenue for his design to come to fruition. It also had the ability to show the public’s need and desire for his product. And since he’s used Messermeister knives in his kit through culinary school and beyond, the partnership made sense. It went from idea to reality in 2.5 years — and the knives are now available online.

Tacos and Modelo. It’s what’s for dinner.

Glick’s Adventure Chef Collection goes on the road with him. He tested it extensively for a year, cooking while he traveled. Photo courtesy of Adam Glick.

Cutlery for the Road

Adventure Chef knives and utensils are “perfect to pack up and take anywhere — camping, on a fishing boat, to the beach for a cookout, anywhere outdoors.” They’re lightweight folders, which makes them safer and easy to keep in a kit or a drawer.

Glick has put the entire collection to the test. He carried the cutlery in his adventure van and cooked all his meals with the collection for more than a year, Wilson tells Knives Illustrated.

A peek inside Glick’s adventure van and “indoor” kitchen area. Adam transformed his van, with his dad, to look like a boat’s cabin. It has a pull-out stove, so he has plenty of room to cook. Photo courtesy of Adam Glick.

Why Chef Glick Loves To Cook on the Road

When he’s not at sea — and on Bravo channel’s Below Deck television series — Glick lives in his converted van that he renovated with his dad to look like the interior of a boat. It’s much more practical than renting an apartment between sea voyages, he says. He doesn’t have to worry about breaking his lease and selling his furniture every time he gets a gig at sea, only to have to begin the process all over again once he’s back on land.

“He carried the cutlery in his adventure van and cooked all his meals with the collection for more than a year.”

Glick does a lot of his cooking videos outside. He teaches us to make chicken- fried steak over a campfire in the snow or breakfast burritos on the beach, for example.

“Cooking from camp helps me show people that cooking outside is really easy,” he says. “The challenge of nature and elements isn’t as hard as people think.”

“Things don’t need to be complex to be tasty,” Glick says. The farm-to-table movement taught us that, and the open flame you create outdoors can add lots of flavor. Lots of cultures cook over open flames, and he’s learned techniques from all over the world — first as a boy whose family lived overseas and later during his sea travels around the world.

The 3 Piece Basecamp Set with Chef’s Knife, cutting board and travel case.

Chef Adam Glick says that things don’t need to be complex to be tasty.

The Peeler & Parer features double-duty in a compact form.

The 6-inch Chef’s Knife is etched with the Messermeister logo, like all their knives.

The fillet knife looks like one you’d find in your own kitchen collection, but of course it folds.

 

 

The Adventure Chef Collection

3 Piece Basecamp Set

  • Folding 6-inch Chef’s Knife
  • Folding TPE faux wood cutting board
  • Waxed canvas Adventure Chef case

6 Piece Summit Set

  • Folding 6-inch Chef’s Knife
  • Folding 6-inch Flexible Fillet Knife
  • Folding fork, knife & spoon
  • Folding Peeler & Parer with fish scaler
  • Folding TPE cutting board
  • Waxed canvas Adventure Chef case

Specifications

Two Styles:

  • Classic stainless blade, carbonized maple handles, denim blue waxed canvas case
  • Stonewashed stainless blade, re-purposed burlap handle, utility green canvas case

Chef’s KNIFE & Flexible 

Fillet Knife

  • 6-inch blade
  • Liner lock system
  • 15° cutting edge
  • German 1.4116 stainless carbon alloy blade, RC 57-58

Peeler & Parer

  • 3.5-inch Parer
  • Double-action peeler with fish scaler
  • Linear lock on peeler
  • Surgical stainless steel

Camp Utensil

  • 4-in-1 tool
  • 3.25-inch Steak knife with a dual-action serration
  • Full-sized spoon
  • Fork with integrated bottle opener
  • Surgical stainless steel

Folding Faux Wood

Cutting Board

  • Cold/heat resistant from -4˚F to 248˚F
  • Opens to 10.75 x 9.5 x 0.25 inches

Waxed Canvas Case

  • Pockets for Chef’s & Fillet knives, elastic band and pocket for cutting board, elastic bands for Peeler & Parer and Camp Utensil.
  • 16 ounces canvas
  • Durable, plastic YKK zipper