My friend has a tiny kitchen with almost no natural light. She has painted white cabinets and just got Brazilian Black granite put in. I thought it would make the kitchen too dark, but it was beautiful. It reads as almost a solid black, but yet not too dark. I can't really put it into words. The granite guy was commenting how much prettier her Brazilian was than the Absolute Black they had put in an island the day before. Just throwing out another option. For me, I would go with the easiest care.

I came across your thread while researching MontBlanc. I love the slab I selected and it is the African one as well. I am seeing a lot of discussion about staining and etching. If you have this stone in your lovely kitchen, how has it worked with lemon juice and/or wine? The sample I brought home failed miserably. Was just the same as the marble sample. The fabricator assures me that it because it has not been sealed yet. But since I'm selecting something that looks like marble but is more durable, to see it perform identically to the marble is unsettling! This is going in a farmhouse kitchen that will get lots of abuse. I don't want to have to baby it or rush around behind everyone cleaning up spills.

@Thao Le I like the subtle sheen of your honed Mont Blanc quartzite countertops. Please share whether you have had problems with staining? If not, kindly share what type of sealer you used. I plan to use Mont Blanc for my upcoming renovation but given the porosity, I want to be sure my contractor uses a sealer that is proven to properly 'impregnate' the stone to prevent staining.

Pretty stone! Could it be your lighting from the hood vs recessed lights? The way shadows are being cast? On my screen it really does not look different.