I'm no expert, but there are some useful threads on quartzite - see this one, for example: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/countertop-geology-part-5-marble-quartzite-and-other-favorites-dsvw-vd~2438427?n=165 One thing I do know is that stone shops often mislabel softer stones as quartzite, so you want to be sure what you have is actually a true quartzite, and not something like Super White, which is often called a quartzite but isn't.

We did this in a showroom, on an island that we used to set up buffets. Yes, people snagged their fuzzy sweater type clothes on it, and yes, it was difficult to clean. Requires a scrub brush, lots of towels, and a directed spray of clean water to rinse. Thus the towels, to keep the water off of the cabinets. The great chocolate syrup spill during our ice cream sundae gathering was a pain to get it looking right again.

megs1030, I think you are probably right about the wood finishes competing. I liked the cushion color a lot which is why I'd narrowed it down to that one, but I wasn't super thrilled about the base color. I hear you all on adding color. I think one of the reasons I'm hesitant here is because the configuration of the kitchen is such that there will be a fairly narrow area to pass through between the island and a wall that juts out behind it. Currently this is where the fridge sits and there is literally only 21" right now between the right corner of the island and it, but that should hopefully not be for much longer. Once the fridge is moved there will be 54", but I hope to put in some lockers along that wall to capture the jackets and boots that everyone wears out back, so it could potentially shrink to as narrow as a 36" walkway (that's still tbd though). So I don't want there to feel like there is a lot there, I think I want the stools to seem to disappear when not in use. It could be when the fridge is out of here I won't feel that way, it really closes the area in right now. I'd probably have to see the low back chairs in person to get a feel for if they'd tuck away enough. I doubt there is anywhere in town that would have any. Maybe I should stick with a couple of really inexpensive stools until we're further along.

Taj Mahal and any quartite for that matter is so dense that it is particularly prone to cracking without experienced fabrication and installation. Some cracks can be repaired satisfactorily, but not usually inconspicuously, and if the surface wasn't properly installed, you could be seeing more cracking in the future. You should reach out to your contractor immediately for warranty service. If the contractor prefers to replace rather than repair, you might consider a different surface to avoid the same problem given that the installer obviously did such a poor job and left it with no comment. At the very least, you should not use the same installer for any replacement if at all possible.