Reddit reviews Knifedock - In-drawer Kitchen Knife Storage - The Cork Composite Material Never Dulls Your Blades. Great Gift for Any Chef! Enables you to Easily Identify Your Knives At a Glance.

An Amazon registry (I would skip the Kohls cutlery offerings) will limit you somewhat, but there are certainly decent options available. I think your selection of two chef knives, a bread knife, and a paring knife is a good choice. For the most part I'm going to suggest fairly costly knives because, frankly, this isn't /r/culinary.

Chef knives first. Everything I have to say about 8"/210mm knives I would apply to 10"/240mm knives unless I make note.

If you want a hefty Western chef knife, I find Messermeister to be best in show. They take an edge better than other stainless German knives I've owned and they keep it longer. I find the grind and profile to be slightly more modern and workable in the Elite models opposed to the highly popular Wusthof Classic and sundry Henckels lines. The fit and finish on them is on par with Wusthof, which is to say impeccable. Messermeister makes three different handles for its Elite lines and offers the blades in a thinner Stealth version, which I like. Since Messermeister's Amazon offerings are a bit wonky I would highly suggest you look around the site for the style you like. You might even find some other kitchen gadgets you like. If you are interested in a French profile, look at K-Sabatier. A carbon K-Sab is a lot of fun. And though the stainless knives they produce aren't really as magical as their carbons, they're still fine knives.

• Messermeister Oliva Elite Stealth: Olive wood handled. My favorite. Extra classy.
  
• Messermeister San Moritz Elite Stealth: Poly handle option. I don't like it as much as the wood handles, but it's much cheaper as offered here.
  
• Messermeister Meridian Elite: Classic black pakka wood handle. It's classic and black.
  
• K-Sabatier carbon: This knife is king of the hill. Yes, it's a hill out in the middle of nowhere, but it's still a nice knife. This style is timeless, but it's also out of stock.
  
• K-Sabatier stainless: I believe this knife uses the same steel as Wusthof and Henckels with a similar heat treatment. The biggest difference is the profile.
  
  There are many good Japanese companies and makers to consider. These knives will all be lighter and somewhat thinner than almost any Western knife. If you want something functional and somewhat reasonably priced, Suisin, Mac, and Tojiro have some good options. In the next price bracket up, a Kikuichi, a Yoshihiro, a Takayuki, or a Misono fits the bill, though Misono knives have become incredibly inflated in price. If you have a rich Uncle Ed, slip a Takeda into your list. I would definitely consider other knives at these general price ranges, but they're not available on Amazon.
  
  A few budget suggestions:
  
  
• Tojiro DP gyuto: A great knife line. Tojiro's VG-10 heat treatment is on par with if not better than Shun's. If you're used to a heavy 10" knife, a Tojiro DP 270mm wouldn't be out of the question.
  
• 7.25" Mac Chef "chef" knife: This is definitely a gyuto, regardless what it's labeled. I've used it on a restaurant line during service and it is quite durable. It's reasonably priced, which makes it a popular choice in the food industry.
  
• 10" Mac Chef chef knife: Though they're from the same line, this knife has a wholly more substantial feel on the board than the above. It's still light. It's not priced as well as its shorter cousin. This is the knife that opened my eyes to what Japanese knives could be. The knife is available in the 12" length which, like the Tojiro, coming from a full weight Western knife would still be light.
  
• Suisin HC gyuto: A carbon steel knife selection. These knives have good production values and take a great edge. These knives have decent asymmetrical grinds, which is a definite plus for me. Suisin also makes a comparable Inox stainless line that is quite nice.
  
  To find out who really loves you:
  
  
• Takayuki Grand Chef gyuto: To be fair, I have not used this knife. Those who have like it, though they usually consider it a bit overpriced. It's made from AEB-L, which in kitchen knives is my favorite stainless. I would prefer the Suisin HC.
  
• Misono UX10 gyuto: This knife has been around for a few years and it's pretty popular at high end restaurants. It's nice, but it's a bit overpriced for what you get; the steel and grind on it are unremarkable. The fit and finish on it is probably the best you can buy, though.
  
• Yoshihiro gyuto: This knife is again a bit pricey for what you get, but it does at least include a saya. It offers you a crack at a wa handle, which is a slightly different experience. The steel is somewhat softer than I would like.
  
  Rich Uncle Ed special:
  
  
• Takeda 210mm Aogami Super gyuto: It's thin. It's light. It's made by a wizened old master craftsman. It's got a weird grind that does a whole lot of work while cutting something. It's made out of one of the finest carbon steels being produced today. It's... really expensive. Takeda lovers swear by them, but they're much too tall on the board for me.
  
  Unfortunately I didn't spot many knives on Amazon that I have confidence in and feature a Japanese handle. That's a shame because they're a treat.
  
  Unlike my essay on chef knives, I have only one bread knife suggestion, the Mac Superior 270mm bread knife. It's the best Amazon has to offer and one of the best bread knives you can buy. Tojiro makes a clone that sells for less elsewhere if no one gives you one.
  
  Paring knives are a little different. Edge retention and grind are much less important than geometry. I have this Henckels Pro 3" and I like it; the height of the blade is very comfortable. It has no flex, though, so don't expect to use it optimally for boning tasks. I am almost as happy with any Victorinox paring knife. I would suggest you try as many as possible in brick and mortar outlets to figure out what you like.
  
  And finally, storage. A wall mounted magnetic strip is popular. Those made of wood have less chance of scratching or damaging a knife, so they're somewhat preferable, but as long as you pop the knife off tip first you won't damage it. I've used this strip from Winco for the past year at work with no ill effect. A knife block actually is a good storage option if you can find one to fit your collection. The biggest risk is catching the tip when the knife is inserted into the block, but that's not much of a concern if the user is careful. I use a Victorinox block that was a gift at home for most of my house knives. This block is great, I've been told. A drawer insert is another good low space option. I like my Knife Dock for the stuff I want to keep safe. It lets me slip in as many knives as I have space for the handles. This insert from Wusthof is also popular.

I use this drawer insert for my larger knives. The one linked below is lined with cork making it very gentle on your edges.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004T2ZPQY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are these, which I highly recommend that you AVOID. My dad bought me one for Christmas last year and they're absolutely atrocious. You end up cutting a lot of the flexible bits when trying to put your knives up.

Could a knife dock work for you? You could potentially drimmel out the knife block maybe.

a good pizza stone is pretty sweet. I asked for a big 15" square one for christmas. it has a metal rack to pick it up with, but i mostly just leave it in the oven. I will toss baking sheets directly on top of it and not even worry about moving it when not in use. being able to make nice pizzas at home is a fun thing to do on a weeknight. have your friends over and make a few pizzas, then toss them in. since they cook in like, 8 minutes tops, you can crank a bunch of them out in an evening and everybody can try different toppings. just make sure you have plenty of dough handy prepped the day before, or if you can buy some from a store that's fine too.

a double boiler/steamer setup is nice, and surprisingly common yet nobody has them in their frequently-used lineup of kitchenware it seems like. you can make alton brown's chicken wings where you don't have to fry them. you can find vegetable steamers and such for dirt cheap at any good will type place. people are always throwing those things out. I swear, there must be like 3 of them in existence for every kitchenware set that has been produced.

this one isn't actually for preparing food, but I got a cork knife block recently that is really nice. It's a beautiful presentation of my most-used chef knives, and it lives on my kitchen island now so my knife is always easy to reach, and it helps keep the edges sharper for longer than a hard block or, heaven forbid, your knives rattling around in a drawer. like this one https://www.amazon.com/Knifedock-drawer-Composite-Material-Identify/dp/B004T2ZPQY you could put them in a drawer if you wanted, but i like the way it looks and my new chef knife is so pretty that I prefer to just have it on the counter.


a good wok never hurts to have handy for when you want to make large batches of curry or something for a group of people, even if you never use it on ultra-high heat for traditional thai or chinese style food.

I just made a cork knife storage unit like this, but sides were cork as well.

$8 of cork, hot glue, and about 30 minutes. It works great and I’ve had it for about a year. No sign of deterioration or anything. I used 12x12 squares of quarter inch cork, so it doesn’t work as well with my 11.5 in chef knife. I have leftover cork, so I’ll get around to making a more refined version later.