Thanks all. I just got this one today from BBB http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/1/14881-culinary-institute-of-america-masters-collection-bamboo-cutlery-drawer-storage.html And it's perfect! It's by Culinary Institute of America. It's bamboo, and solid on the bottom (no wooden dowels). I love the solid bottom, the flat part in front, that it is not quite wavy, but most importantly, it seems to hold more knives (and not too wide a block either) than any of the others I looked at- 7 long and 8 small knives. Now it's off to return all the others!

What azzalea said. I love my Wusthof chef's knives but I like a heavy well balanced knife and the Wusthof feels best in my hand. Others swear by Global knives but when I tried them out in the store they felt too light. But that's me, obviously others prefer a light knife. And in the cafe where I work each of us has her favourite knives. So your friend really needs to try out a bunch of knives in the store to see what feels right for him/her.

So, party_music 50, didn't folks show you how some of us knife lovers can have opinions and good tips? I found so many good ideas and I too had to waste some money and learn. I've always loved cooking. I have various knives for various tasks, but the one I go to these days for a lot of simple slicing and chopping is the one Sushipup mentioned, the Victorinox Fibrox 8" chef's knife. I have both the 8" and the 6" and bought my cookin' sis the 6". We both love that one. It's sharp, easy to hold, lightweight, easy to clean (just wipe with your soapy dish cloth, rinse, and put away), AND it has a very nice, textured handle that gives a secure grip. I used mine so much I went to a town farm market knife sharping kiosk to get it tweaked. He gave me some tips to refreshing the edge (realigning). I was surprised to find how much I love this little knife. The 8" version is just as nice. I have "too many knives" with some redundancy, for sure. LindaC, I believe I've got the very Chicago Cutlery 6" knife that you have. No longer my favorite for a while, but probably because I let it go dull-ish. I also have some of the older Elephant Sabbatier carbon-steel knives. Just wipe it clean and put away. That one is probably 40 to 50 years old and my father did a "bad bad thing" by trying to sharpen it with one of those electric can opener sharpeners that took a lot of the steel off in a certain area. The 6" knife at the top with the wooden handle is an older Chicago Cutlery forged knife. Above: a Chicago Cutlery 5" parer I bought at Walmart a couple of years ago. Too bad the yellow rubber grip deteriorated. The knife at the bottom with the black handle is the 8" Vitorinox Fibrox. dcarch, I have hung onto the ratty Chi Cut knife thinking that I might fashion a wooden handle for it (it has a sort of long tang). Party, I think people has mentioned this, but don't put kitchen chef's knives into the dishwasher or leave in the sink (one of my siblings does this). I'm with dcarch in thinking that you might want to treat yourself to a nice knife, say that 6" Vitorinox. Than your sister can test it when she visits. I'll have to warn you, however, I was impressed with how sharp they were from the factory. Over the summer, I took my favorite knives to the fellow at our farmers' market and he did a great job. I was going to by one of those pricy but very good Apex sharpening systems, but I decided to take knives to the farmers' market fellow and I will just tweak them sharper as needed on a nice sharpening stone I have for that sort of thing. Ci_lantro, I bet that carbon steel Chinese cleaver is great to use. Photo? I have a few cleavers and a heavy one is good for persuading hard squash to see things my way.

One of the goals of my kitchen remodel was to reduce/eliminate clutter on the counters. Things that used to live on the counter but now live in drawers (or in the super susan) include canisters, knife blocks, chargers, and toaster. The only thing permanently left out on the counters are the MW (tucked into a corner) and a paper towel holder. I love my knife drawer! My Mom has a small kitchen in an apartment, with very little counter space, and downsized a lot when she moved from a big house. She added a small knife insert to her flatware drawer - the knife insert is at the very front, and the flatware organizer behind it. I wish I had a photo. I think her insert holds 4 or 5 knives, which is all she needs.