MTH-80 Professional Series

MAC mth-80’s are a great starting point into Japanese knives. I don’t know about authentic , the handle looks a little different than I’m used to. But maybe that’s coincidence. What vendor did you purchase through? I bought a few from cutlery and more. https://cutleryandmore.com/products/mac-profess

I would agree, any knife which cost over $250 should stay far away from restaurants/culinary school and should be locked up in your own home like a treasured jewel. Would you trust anyone other than your closest friend to touch it? I wouldn't. So it should stay away from other people. There are coun

Everyone here will tell you to get a Japanese knife and there are plenty of recommendations to be made there (Masutani, Shiro Kamo, Mazaki, Tsunehisa to start, Shindo too) But they can be a little fragile for people used to western style knives. For Western knives, maybe consider asking for a Victor

I would say follow the advice anyone here gives you but some good names are Shibata, Mazaki, Shiro Kamo, etc for good Japanese blacksmiths Otherwise Victorinox (best lower end western style knife) or MAC Professional MTH-80 (best higher end western style knife)