Chef reveals surprising fact about knives in airport kitchens

We all know that you can’t take sharp objects through airport security. But have you ever thought about what the shops and restaurants in the terminal do with their sharp knives and scissors?

It’s a question I’d never even considered until recently, and I was pretty intrigued once I dived into finding the answer.

You can’t have a kitchen without a knife. While passengers might be content eating with dull silverware, it’s impossible to prep food without something sharp.

So, yes, airport kitchens and food service outlets do have sharp knives. But they’re all tethered to the bench or the wall with steel cables, to make sure that none get swiped.

In most airports, kitchen managers have to log and count every knife multiple times a day. If a single knife is unaccounted for, it can trigger a massive security lockdown.

A Reddit commenter who worked in an airport kitchen recounted: “One time a paring knife went missing and they locked the terminal down until they found it.(Turned out that the knife was due to be replaced and a contractor had removed it for disposal but didn’t fill out the ticket stating as such.)”

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Chef Todd Richards, who opened a sushi restaurant in a US airport, said he was “not prepared” for the strict knife rules.

“Imagine how much fish we’re cutting,” he said on the Restaurant Rockstars podcast, adding how frustrating it is “to have your knives chained down and not be able to move outside the area you’re standing”.

The rule is for all knives, he clarified, including small paring knives they’re using all the time.

It also makes the knives harder to clean, as they can’t be taken over to the sink, he said.

A representative from Sydney Airport confirmed to nine.com.au that in the post-security restaurants, knives are under strict controls.

As well as being tethered, sharp implements are recorded and accounted multiple times a day, they said.

A 2018 documentary, The Secret Life of the World’s Busiest Airport, which gives a behind-the-scenes look at the operation of Atlanta’s Hartfield Jackson airport, tells the same story.

All knives must be chained up and logged regularly, according to a restaurant manager interviewed in the documentary.

Chained knives are just the tip of the iceberg for chefs and restaurant managers in airports. The Atlanta manager said the hardest thing was getting all her staff in on time – they often have to arrive at the airport an hour before their shift in order to clear security.

Food storage can also be an issue. In many cases, restaurants have very little space for storage, meaning the menus have to be pared back and ingredient orders need to be made daily.

Employees are also subject to more stringent background checks before being hired, and the food itself is also subjected to random checks for foreign objects.