Genesis 8-Inch Short Bolster Chef's Knife

Also if you're getting them a fancy Japanese knife, make sure they already have a cheap workhorse (i.e. mercer genesis) in case they need to break apart any chocolate blocks or similar hard work bc not everything you'll do in culinary school will suit the delicate knives

Mercer Genesis, short bolster. Super comfortable and reliable. Similar price to the Victorinox but with a handle that doesn't suck. https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-Genesis-Forged-Bolster/dp/B00DT1XFSQ/?th=1

Mediocre knife, terrible price. It sells brand new on Amazon for $85. For a true starter knife get a Mercer Culinary "Ultimate White" 8" chef's knife. It should be less than $15. Very popular in restaurant kitchens. Or you could upgrade to a Mercer "Genesis" for about $40. Personally I'm a big fan o

IMO You should first learn how to sharpen a knife, any knife. First get 2 of the best soaking stones and learn from them how to sharpen just about any culinary knife. Next, buy a workhorse chef knife for your workplace and 2 kitchen knives for your home. Recommendations: Mercer 8 inch Chef knife Yax

Never did culinary school or worked in a kitchen any long amount of time. Am a knife/kitchen enthusiast with thousands of dollars of knives in my kitchen. Two get reached for the most - the oddly shaped 40-50ish year old zwilling 4 star utility knife, and the mercer genesis (?) 8" chefs knife. Then

I just recently got a Mercer genesis. I love it. Mercer is known as a knife for culinary students. German carbon steel. Sharpens nicely and stays sharp a reasonable amount of time. 60$