07/09/2026
Stephen has a favourite restaurant routine.
If his meal arrives before the cutlery, he calls over one of the waitstaff, quietly but never quite quietly enough.
“Excuse me, I can’t eat this.”
Concerned questions follow. Is everything all right? Is there something wrong with the meal?
“I cannot possibly eat it. I don’t have any cutlery.”
It was funny the first 50 times. At 70, Dad still finds it every bit as funny.
So, at our special lunch for his 70th birthday and Father’s Day, we decided to set the stage for him. We left the knives off the table and waited.
Right on cue, Dad asked where his knife was.
That was our cue to unveil a set of eight steak knives, handmade especially for him by the very talented Dominic Binkert of DB Blades and engraved with:
Family - Tradition - Table
70 - 2026
Those words were chosen carefully.
Growing up, our family sat down for dinner together every single night. Looking back, I understand that this was one of the great gifts Stephen and Lisa gave us.
Michael Pollan writes, “The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community.”
That was our table. It was where we learnt to listen, laugh, share, disagree and still come back to one another. The lesson was never delivered as a lesson. It was lived, night after night.
These are the values Stephen and Lisa raised me and my sisters with, and the values Alida and I now pass on to our children.
That is what these knives honour. Not only the beauty of the steak, but everything that has gone into the family gathered to eat it: years of work and sacrifice, love and tradition, and a place where the next generation will always belong.
It is also why, when we at Continental Kosher Butchers say we are grateful to help keep your food traditions alive across generations, we mean it. A family meal can carry memory, identity and connection. Being entrusted with even a small part of that is why we do what we do.
Happy 70th birthday, Dad. Here’s to many more meals around a full table, now with no shortage of knives.
Daniel Lewis (& Son)
