What other "prosumer" brands are out there?

[uyotg]

Been looking for a good new santoku and I realized that, knowing only the big names out there, my options are pretty limited.

So what else is there besides Shun, Wusthof, Global, Henckels, etc.? Anything more obscure but just as great, if not better?

I was eying the Michel Bras line of cutlery, but it's probably out of my range...

 

[Hard H2O]

My santuko from Sam's Club made by Tramontina works great, sharpens up nice, takes and holds an edge, and didn't break the bank.

 

[C-9]

Bras knives are purely high income type consumer goods. Pros aren't going to waste that much money on it. There are lots of prosumer Japanese brands, too many to list

 

[timbit]

Is there any reason that you would like a santoku? If it is for general purpose kitchen duties, then a gyuto would serve much better. Santoku's were developed for Japanese women that wanted to cook western style foods. I find that they typically aren't long enough to be a good slicer or chopper, and they are too short and wide to be great at detail work. Fujiwara DOES have a Santoku, but I've never used it. I am sure it would be good though, as the quality of their other blades I've tried has been very nice.

http://japanesechefknife.com has a bunch of very nice Japanese knives. I have made several orders from them, and was very impressed with their customer service. $8 flat rate shipping from Japan. I typically get my package in under a week in Canada, which is crazy! I like the fujiwara line. Decent knife steel, decent fit and finish, great price. You can get into a 10-12 in chef knife in carbon steel for $80. I am an avid cook (I used to cook professionally). Between my Fujiwara 240mm gyuto, my fujiwara petty knife, and my 3.5 in shun pairing knife I can do anything in the kitchen (I have a Chinese cleaver for bones). If you do end up making an order at this website, you might consider picking up their 1000/4000 combination stone. It is very nice, cuts well and is quite reasonably priced.

I don't know how you would typically order a knife, but if you want to try a santoku go to some kitchen store and ask to use it. Make sure you use a good 2 or 3 finger pinch grip, as a santoku doesn't have a bolster, which makes it easy for fingers to slide forward on the blade.