
STRATA Reopened at 67 Washington Avenue, the J. J. Nissen Building on Munjoy Hill. In the Recent Past Several Art Shows Were Held in this Large Space, Including Mayo Street Arts.

Plates From Japan in Various Sizes and Prices. Cocktail Glasses from Japan are Already on STRATA Shelves.

The Three Knives Designed by Evan and Ryan and Made by Tanaka, of Japan Described Below. They are Made of Carbon and Stainless Steel.

Becky Wurwarg, Wife of Evan Atwell, is Employed at USM. She Will be the Weekend Cashier Until Further Notice.

Evan Atwell (R) in White Shirt Helps a Customer Select Knives from A Large Inventory of Them. Suitable for Restaurant Use and Home Use. Ryan (L) in Black Shirt, an Associate of STRATA, Assists a Customer with his Selection.
Yesterday the much anticipated STRATA reopened at 67 Washington Avenue following months of planning and extensive product research by Evan Atwel, owner, to make this day happen. Formerly a tenant at one of the nearby black box containers since February 1, 2019, Evan and his associate, Ryan Perrier, did most of the build-out of the new location themselves – a physically demanding job as well.
Until June 1, STRATA had occupied one of those black box units. Evan sold knives and whetstone sharpened them for customers – many of whom were chefs from the restaurants in Maine and from all over the northeast, That’s because there’s nothing comparable around. The unpretentious Evan quickly realized that he needed to find a larger spot to accommodate the needs of his ever growing customer base. For the past month, Evan and Ryan have toiled daily to reopen STRATA ahead of the crush of the tourist season.
STRATA arrived yesterday. So did the crush of tourists and those who love cooking. Yesterday was one of the top five busiest days since the store opened on February 1, 2019 – STRATA ON STEROIDS.
Fifty percent of the expanded inventory comes from Japan. But it has an even stronger international flavor with other culinary products coming from Portugal, England and Italy. Eighty percent of the ordered stock from overseas has arrived. Pots and pans from England and silverware from Portugal are on the way. Their arrival is expected any day. There are five hundred new items in this expanded iteration of STRATA. The store carries about sixteen hundred products.
The combination stainless steel and carbon steel knives are gaining in popularity because of the benefits of carbon steel and the ease of maintenance of stainless steel Ryan explains to a customer. STRATA has already sold about fifteen of them and has just received a second shipment of them. The manufacturer is Tanaka, one of the three top knife makers in Japan. The three in the above photograph were designed by Evan and Ryan to be manufactured by Tanaka. “This is like having your favorite singer write a song for you and singing it to you,” said Ryan, laughing. (See above left photo of them.)
The two trace the dominance of Japanese knives in the market back to the samuri swords used by the Japanese military. “Those production methods were passed on to knife makers,” said Ryan. “The Japanese are very industrious people.”
“We did tons of product research during the last year,” said Ryan, a former chef at a South Portland restaurant. “We were looking for the best, most interesting and unique products to sell here. We wanted a good mix of affordable and some more expensive and fun items,” he said.
The model for STRATA is Bernal Cutlery, in San Francisco. Evan and his wife Becky Wurwarg, lived in the Bay area before moving to Portland to start their own business. They both worked in the food industry in San Francisco. Evan and Becky met at Oberlin College. She was a history major and Evan was a neuroscience major. He had planned on a career in research on Alzheimer’s, but realized that life would not suit him.
STRATA is open Wednesday – Sunday from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm. For more information from the Strata Squad, please email: info@strataportland.com. It’s nicely air-conditioned in there!
Classes will be held on Tuesdays and there is a waiting list for that.
For more background information, please read post herein dated February 1, 2019.