Buy a good set of kitchen knives that aren’t cerakoated. Microscopic particles of endocrine-disrupting “forever chemicals” and being deposited on food with every slice.
I'm with some on Chicago, they've moved the factory and aren't the same, they are in the attic now.
Wife bought Henckles (cheaper set - they make their junk too), Carote (she liked the pots, pans, knives from a lake house we purchased), these are actually pretty sharp, but I haven't had to sharpen them yet. I'm not really a fan of either one. We have purchased Oyster and several off brand Chinese stuff for 6 different short term rentals we have, I'm not much of a fan of those either. I think in one or two rentals, we've even purchased another set, you know how things go missing.
I've wanted to try Dexter's, but the wife wants things to look nice out in the block. I may have to buy a few and just keep in a drawer, I've seen several different deer processors use these around where I live. I've read other sites, they tend to like the Victorinox and Wustof knives as has been suggested here, the Shun is something on here. I'm not in the habit of putting out a hundred dollars for one knife or two to three hundred for a set. Too many knives get abused and thrown in the dishwasher. I've watched a Japanese guy on youtube that has some interesting knives, but again, I'm not paying those prices.
I'm not a chef or anything, I just want something to cut decently and is fairly easy to touch up, so, I just get by with what we have. There is just too much in this world to actually care about for me. As long as the 8" and pairing knife will sharpen, with my mediocre skills, I'm fine. Though something nicer would be great too. If I've got something big to lay into, I'll go to the truck and get the KaBar. I know it's sharp.
I have several shuns and they get razor sharp, my only complaint with them is the steel is a touch too hard in some of the series and is a little more brittle than i would like, he blade tends to get chips in it easier than most. That being said i still prefer a thin Japanese style knife on most things other than breaking down things like a chicken and in that case i use a regular western style like a wostof
I run the Henkels Professional S knives - have had them for 22 years and counting - tough and takes a savvy guy with a stone to sharpen them however when sharpened, they are outstanding