Chef Neal Brown offers $500 reward for missing knife

Not the priciest caviar nor the rarest French black truffles are more valuable to a chef than his knives. That’s why Indianapolis chef Neal Brown is offering a $500 reward to the person who returns a single beloved blade he believes was stolen.

The custom-made, yanagi-style knife crafted by fifth-generation Japanese knife-makers is among four knives Brown said were taken from his vehicle’s trunk Downtown on Aug. 15 or 16.

“That knife ... that one knife,” Brown said, downhearted at the thought of never seeing the tool that cost him $1,000 a decade ago. It was his first major purchase as a professional chef.

Brown, who owns Pizzology restaurants and The Libertine Liquor Bar, acquired the knife while working at the Broad Ripple restaurant H2O Sushi, which was in business from 2000 to 2014. Yanagi knives sport long, thin blades that are used to cleanly cut fish and seafood for sashimi and sushi. A yanagi blade is angled from one side, depending on whether the user is left- or right-handed.

Brown’s right-handed yanagi is 33 centimeters long and has a deer horn handle, per the chef's specifications.

Friends and fellow cooks offered condolences on Facebook, where Brown this week announced the reward. They also offered Brown the use of their knives, “and I get that and I appreciate it, but it’s just not the same,” he said.

“It takes time to build a relationship with those things, and when you do build a relationship to those knives, you’re married to them,” Brown said.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that Brown has not filed a police report. Brown would not reveal the exact location of the parking garage, near the intersection of College Avenue and North Street, where his car was parked. Brown said he related the incident to the security company monitoring the garage, which Brown said is equipped with video cameras.

“I thought if they (thieves) thought I would prosecute, I wouldn’t get my knives back,” Brown said. “And I really want my knives back.”

Despite the offer on an award, “I have very little hope that they’re going to be returned,” Brown said of the yanagi and three Shun brand knives — a classic vegetable knife, a Damascus steel chef knife and a 10-inch chef knife. He said they went missing after he unloaded his trunk following a charity dinner he had cooked.

Brown left some things in the trunk, including his monogrammed “NJB,” leather knife case made by a Texas-based craftsman. When he returned to the vehicle a couple days later, he noticed the trunk was ajar. He closed the trunk without a thought, thinking he had not shut it securely. Shortly afterward, when he went to retrieve his knives, Brown found they were gone.

The trunk was not forcibly opened. Brown thinks the knives were taken while the trunk was ajar or someone broke into his car and pulled the trunk release.

Total value of the knives and the case is around $3,000, Brown said.

“It adds up to a lot of heartbreak and sorrow,” he said.

Call Liz Biro at (317) 444-6264. Follow her on Twitter @lizbiro, Instagram @lizbirodish, Facebook and Pinterest.