If you've spent any time in knife forums, culinary school, or professional kitchens, you've heard the same two names come up when the conversation turns to spoons: Kunz and Gestura.
Both are serious tools. Both are made to a standard that most kitchen stores don't carry. Both have devoted followings that verge on the religious. And they're different enough that the right answer depends entirely on who's cooking and how.
Here's a breakdown.
Background: What Each One Is
The Gray Kunz Spoon is named after the Swiss-born chef Gray Kunz, who had the spoon made to his specifications for use in his kitchen at Lespinasse in New York. It became quietly legendary among professional cooks, a heavy, well-proportioned spoon with a large, deep bowl that holds roughly two tablespoons, a substantial handle, and a presence in the hand that communicates tool rather than utensil. It's been sold through JB Prince for years and has been a fixture in professional kitchens.
The Gestura 01 is newer. Designer Gabriel Rudolph spent years cooking professionally and hunting for spoons at flea markets before he built the one he couldn't find. Made in Japan from Japanese steel on vintage American presses in Niigata, the 01 is lighter, more precise, and more visually distinctive than the Kunz. It holds exactly one tablespoon, half the Kunz's volume, and its bowl is more tapered, with a pointed tip optimized for plating and a flared lip for scraping.
The Head-to-Head
Bowl Size and Capacity
The Kunz holds roughly two tablespoons. The Gestura 01 holds exactly one. This isn't just a size difference, it changes what each tool is best at.
A two-tablespoon bowl is excellent for generous basting, large-batch tasting, and serving. If you're saucing a hundred plates at a restaurant pass, the Kunz moves more liquid per stroke.
A one-tablespoon bowl is excellent for precision: measuring ratios, plating single-portion sauces, controlling exactly how much of something goes somewhere. If you're making a vinaigrette and want to use one tool to measure, mix, and pour, the Gestura 01 does all three.
Winner for volume: Kunz. Winner for precision: Gestura.
Handle and Weight
The Kunz is heavier and hand-filling. The handle has significant girth, some cooks love this, some find it fatiguing over a long service. Forum discussions note that the Kunz's weight communicates confidence; it feels substantial.
The Gestura handle is slimmer. This is one of the few criticisms that comes up in community discussions, some cooks with larger hands wish it were thicker. The tradeoff is nimbleness: the Gestura is lighter and easier to use for delicate work.
Winner for heft and grip: Kunz. Winner for delicate work: Gestura.
Plating and Precision
This is where the Gestura pulls ahead clearly. The pointed bowl tip on the 01 allows you to place sauce exactly where you intend it, a single clean stroke, a precise dot, a controlled pour into a narrow space. The Kunz's rounded tip is less precise. It's a basting and stirring tool first; a plating tool second.
Winner: Gestura.
Aesthetics
This is subjective, but it matters. The Kunz looks like a professional tool. It's polished, institutional, clinical in a way that's either reassuring or boring depending on your disposition.
The Gestura looks like something you found. The tumbled matte finish, the slim profile, the flea-market silhouette, it's a tool that has character before you've used it once. Available in silver, gold-plated, and gunmetal, it's the kind of thing you leave on the counter because it looks good there.
Winner: Gestura, for those who care about this. (Many serious cooks do.)
Price
The Gray Kunz runs around ~$20–40 depending on where you buy it and it's finish. The Gestura 01 is ~$27–30. They're in the same neighborhood. Neither is an impulse buy compared to a supermarket spoon; both are reasonable investments compared to everything else in a serious cook's kit.
Winner: Effectively a draw.
The Slotted Version
Both brands make slotted versions. The Gestura 00 Slotted is the same bowl geometry as the 01, with slots for draining. The Kunz slotted has a larger bowl, consistent with the rest of their line. Same logic applies: Kunz for volume and heft, Gestura for precision and aesthetics.
Who Should Buy Each
Buy the Kunz if:
- You cook in high volume (large batches, family-scale meals, catering)
- You want a heavy, substantial tool that feels serious in the hand
- You're sourcing for a professional kitchen where workhorse durability is the priority
- You've already got a plating tool and just need a basting/stirring spoon
Buy the Gestura if:
- You plate intentionally and want a spoon that supports that
- You cook by ratios and want to measure, mix, and serve with one tool
- You care about the look of your tools (it's okay — most good cooks do)
- You're shopping for someone who appreciates thoughtful design
Buy both if:
- You cook often enough that this is a reasonable question to be asking
Many serious cooks, the forum regulars, the people who've tried everything, end up with both. They live side by side and get reached for based on what the dish demands. That's probably the right answer if you cook enough to justify it.
One More Thing
The Gestura line doesn't stop at spoons. Gabe has since added plating tweezers (Stando and Petite Stando), a needle probe for checking internal doneness (Noyau), and an offset spatula (Esa) and more. All of it available at Vivront, alongside the knife work that makes the rest of what you're doing in the kitchen possible.
Keep the Rest of Your Kitchen Sharp
The knife you reach for after using a Gestura spoon deserves the same attention. Vivront sharpens kitchen knives professionally — the same way a Japanese knife shop would, not the way a pull-through gadget does.
Mail your knives to us → We ship a padded kit to your door, you send your knives in, we return them sharp. Works anywhere in the US.
Set up a sharpening subscription → Sharp knives on a schedule, without thinking about it.
In the Twin Cities? Drop off at our Edina shop (same-day if you're in by 2pm), or check the schedule for our mobile sharpening truck.
Know a school that could use a fundraiser? Our PTO sharpening kit program lets parents send in knives and a percentage comes back to the school. Easy sell, useful product.
