About — The Endeavor Works

Culinary heirlooms do not represent the transfer of material wealth so much as they do a gift of cultural and emotional wealth. They are an evocation of who we are and what really matters.

Endeavor Works Mission

Our name is a reference to the bold explorers and risk takers who went to sea boldly, setting sail into the unknown.

This daring venture is my way of making things I truly believe in with my original designs.

These heirloom cooking tools should bring joy to the owner and become indispensable.

I’d be honored if the tools I make bring people joy over many generations and a sense of personality, continuity, meaning, and home.

The Last Spatula You’ll Ever Need

A note on culture and belonging:

We all eat, most of us cook. It could readily be argued that food culture is the cradle of all culture. More than any other human endeavour or activity, eating is a thing that we do together, and that brief and fleeting meal binds us to one another in our memories and our hearts. Culinary traditions provide continuity through generations and help us to know who we are to understand our place in the world. It is worth noting how an old skillet, a set of dishes, a wine glass, or even Great-Grandma’s spatula can serve as an anchor point for these memories, able to bridge generations. Sense memory is strong, and I believe that it is essential to our understanding of home and of belonging. I believe that this feeling of belonging is essential for human flourishing. So to my mind culinary heirlooms do not represent the transfer of material wealth so much as they do a gift of cultural and emotional wealth. They are an evocation of who we are and what really matters. They remind us to hold the course and pay it forward. My hope is that the tools that I make might become one of these heirlooms.

It began as a family heirloom

Our Story

I am by trade and training a luthier, having specialized for nearly a decade in the restoration and repair of cellos, so it may seem odd that I am here making cooking utensils. Here’s how it happened; I was first inspired to make these spatulas when several years ago the blade of my Great-Grandmother’s spatula developed a crack. My mother was very upset, and I decided to replace the blade as a birthday surprise. She was delighted, and I promptly made a few other spatulas for friends, who were in their turn also delighted.

I am now proud to offer my own interpretation of my family’s heirloom spatula and other cooking tools to you and generations yet to come.

Blacksmith and Toolmaker, Aaron Williams, in his shop

Quality standards:

As these are made by hand (as an aside, “manufactured” comes from the Latin “hand made”), please expect minor irregularities. Consider them to be rather features than flaws. I strive to achieve a high standard of quality and hold as my exemplars the work of the great nineteenth century cutlers of Thiers and Sheffield. If it was good enough for them, I reckon it’s good enough for me! I have a reasonable size collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century tools, and I believe that I largely match or exceed their normal quality standards. That being said, I hasten to add that I cannot consistently perform at the level of CNC machines (neither could the craftsmen of the nineteenth century). I am, after all, not a machine. What I can do that the machines cannot do is make decisions ex tempore and exercise discretion based upon experience. This allows for minute adjustment during my manufacturing process which improve the balance and feel of each individual tool. My work is also very human - it has a good deal of character that is simply not possible for a machine to create, and I think that this is a valuable and often overlooked aspect of a good tool.

Tools

I feel very strongly about tools. A good tool, one that has been carefully and thoughtfully designed and beautifully made from choice materials, that is a wonderful thing! Working as a luthier with my father for nearly a decade, I developed a keen love and appreciation for fine tools. I found that it is not enough that a tool be strong and able to perform its task. A tool ought to speak to its user - it must provide feedback, which allows for understanding and therefore growth and excellence. This is perhaps more important for carving the sound plate of an instrument than for flipping an egg, but the principal stands. To be sure, it takes time and practice to understand what your tools are telling you, but once you do it will be a source of joy and real pleasure, because as humans we are tool users. Most of our daily lives are spent using tools, and whether we are aware of them or not our experience of the world is shaped and strongly informed by those tools. In this sense much of what we actually experience is dictated by the tools, which is to say that we largely experience the tools themselves. So a bad tool will not bring you joy, but only frustration. Most of the time you will not even be aware of it. One really only begins to pay attention after using a good tool. After having spent most of one’s life using bad or indifferent tools, a good tool is a revelation - like waking from a dream. We are creatures of extraordinary sensitivities. A good tool speaks to those senses and, should we allow it, fills us with an immediate and visceral understanding of the world just beyond our fingertips. So, yeah, I think good tools are important.

The Endeavorers

The maker, Aaron Williams, and his wife Natalie Scarlett are The Endeavor Works Team. The Endeavor Works tools are forged in the shop by Aaron and tested in the kitchen by Natalie while Imogen and Edwyn, 5 and 2, get underfoot.

Founder and Maker
Aaron Williams spent 10 years as a luthier where he built and repaired stringed instruments. He honed his woodworking skills and became a fine master luthier. He then worked at Raw Urth Designs as a polisher where he worked with a variety of designs, materials, and patinas. The Endeavor Works is the culmination of Aaron’s skills and ambitions. He hopes to make heirloom quality handmade cooking tools that will become as much a part of the kitchen as the stovetop and sink. He plans to become a skilled maker of all kinds of tools with character starting with spatulas, spoons, whisks, and forks before starting in our knifemaking. Aaron is passionate about figural carving, sharpening stones, straight razors, antique tools, tea, literature, and his family.

Marketing
Natalie, the maker’s wife, is an enthusiastic homecook and artist. When she’s not teaching English or directing theater and film she loves to help Aaron with The Endeavor Works marketing, development, and creative direction. She is always the first tester of any prototype and enjoys breaking in each tools in the home test kitchen. Making cooking videos is also a fun part of the job. She is always open to hearing feedback and requests from clients.