The Serious Chef has one simple goal: to bring superior quality SKK cookware to cooking enthusiasts at an affordable price.

Here's my story...

In September 2016, I attended the Philadelphia (USA) home show. There was a booth where they were demonstrating a popular brand of Titanium cookware. I was immediately impressed: the joys of cast iron cooking, but with modern non-stick technology, and none of the health risks of PFOA's (so often associated with Teflon and other similar products). Unfortunately, even at the special show price, I couldn't afford to buy the pan I wanted. Let's face it, this cookware isn't cheap. I firmly believe it's worth every penny, but for most people (myself included), it's still expensive. The salesman (Tim) was very accommodating. He gave me his card, and he said "Call me when you're ready, and I'll honor the show price." I thought this was a very generous offer, because the regular retail price was nearly double the show price.

About 8 months later, I was ready for my big purchase. I called Tim and he referred my to an SKK dealer in Canada. I said, "What about the other brand?" and he said "1) SKK is a superior brand; 2) they're more reliable; 3) you'll get your pan much faster." That's all I needed to hear. I bought my pan. It arrived quickly and I was very happy, but that's not the end of this story.

Fast forward to October 2020. My sister had just completed a kitchen makeover and I decided to buy her an SKK pan as a "housewarming" gift. I tried to contact the store in Canada, but they were out-of-business. I searched the internet, but I couldn't find any SKK dealers in the US. Amazon had only 1 SKK pan listed, and it said "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock." Desperate, I called Tim again, and he referred me to a dealer in Michigan. This guy said "It it will take 6-8 weeks to get the pan from Germany." Yikes! Without any other options, I ordered the pan from him, but 9 weeks later, it still had not arrived and he never called me again.

I decided to check SKK's website. They have a long list of international partners. I surfed to the website of their USA partner, and they weren't selling SKK cookware either!

I thought, "Something is wrong with this picture. How can the manufacturer of the world's finest cookware not have a presence in the US?" That's when I got an idea. I sent an email to the owner of SKK and I told him I wanted to bring SKK cookware to the US market. He wrote back and said "[We] are very happy to discuss further options with you. I would like to do this by phone, because otherwise it will require a lot of emails going back and forth to explain everything." Two days later, we were on the phone together. I immediately knew this was an honorable man. We were able to hear each other's voices, establish trust, and solidify the basis of our relationship. It took another 4 months to work out the logistics for fast, secure shipments from Germany to the US, setup payment gateways, and build this website. It's been a long road, but The Serious Chef is now open for business!

The Serious Chef offers the full line of SKK cookware (more than 250 products). Our customers range from novice cooking enthusiasts to seasoned professionals. If you have any questions about anything you see on this site, please don't hesitate to call, text or write. Thank you for visiting our online store.

Best regards,

Paul Kolber

Owner, The Serious Chef