Made in Virginia 2017 Awards – Gear (Category Winner)
Heart and Spade Forge
Star City Cookware and hand forged garden tools, Roanoke
If cast iron could be jealous, it would be. The carbon steel cookware designed and forged by Jed Curtis is enviable. Its graceful, ergonomically inclined handles hot-riveted to skillets, which were designed with guidance from professional chefs, are gifted with unique non-stick qualities that render them beautiful and functional. Lighter and more maneuverable than cast iron cookware, Curtis says that the first time he cooked on one he “felt like a prospector who just stumbled upon El Dorado.” The metal craftsman says he has always wanted to make beautifully designed objects that would outlast his lifetime. “Even as a child I valued toys and trinkets that were durable and well-designed,” says Curtis. He got his first anvil at the age of six and used it to tinker with sheet metal. “I slept with it under my pillow,” he adds with a laugh. A blacksmith for the past 12 years, Curtis originally intended to specialize in fine architectural metalwork. “After several chefs inquired about my skillets, I decided to make a line of cookware celebrating the industrial and manufacturing heritage of Roanoke,” he explains. Each piece is stamped with a star, signifying a lifetime guarantee and a forever tie to the Star City. Heart and Spade designs extend beyond the kitchen with a unique assortment of garden tools. “My mother’s friends would give her broken garden trowels for me to fix,” explains Curtis. “They were always the same flimsy construction.” He created sturdier trowels, hand rakes and diggers, each forged as a single piece of steel, which is sealed with a custom finish to protect the surface from rust. Cookware $145-$295. Garden tools $76-94. HeartAndSpadeForge.com
See all of our Made in Virginia 2017 Award winners!
OVERALL Nightingale Ice Cream, Richmond FOOD Landcrafted Foods, Grayson County (category winner) Happy Family Ranch, Midland Northern Neck Popcorn Bag, Kilmarnock Simply Cheddar, Waynesboro DRINK Ragged Branch, Charlottesville (category winner) Dead Reckoning Distillery, Norfolk Veritas Vineyards & Winery, Afton Trussings Craft Fizz, Midlothian DESIGN Daniel Rickey Furniture, Richmond (category winner) Gum Tree Farm, Middleburg Evolution Glass, Charlottesville
Winners were selected by the editors from among hundreds of submissions received earlier this year. Click here to see 2016 winners. Click here to see 2015 winners. Click here to see 2014 winners. Click here to see 2013 winners. Click here to see 2012 winners.