I love this knife. A long time ago in an apartment far away, I had a Wüsthof 10″ chef’s knife that I loved dearly, but one day an incident involving a toaster vaporized a small hole through the blade. I’d loved that knife dearly, picking it up during a knife skills course at ICE, but I figured I’d check out the offerings before getting another. After playing with the knives at a local knife store, I settled on the Shun instead.
Why? I just like it better. The D-shaped handle fits my hand nicely, it doesn’t have the heavy bolster of the Wüsthof and I liked the blade shape a bit more. It’s also significantly sharper out of the box and seems to hold an edge better. And it’s oh so pretty, which doesn’t hurt.
If you’re looking for a new chef’s knife, definitely check it out (along with all the others). Knives are highly personal and it’s worth paying a visit to someone with stock to see what’s available.