There are lots of reasons I don't recommend any Shun chef's knife/gyuto. The two biggest are geometry and valie. Regarding the Onion specifically, it has way too much belly; and there are a number of much better much knives for the money.
You're past the recommendation stage with that knife. If you like it, you like it; all that matters.
I wouldn't recommend any of Sabatier's stainless knives. Although I prefer their geometry to the Germans, my feeling is that the quality of the blade ally is so inferior to similarly priced Japanese, stainless, western style chef's knives, it's not worth buying a Sab.
Since Chris's post, I researched the question of whether carbon, i.e., not-stainless knives were allowed in NYC restaurant kitchens. I looked at the Restaurant Owner's guide, the "What to Expect During Inspection" pamphlet, and called the NYC Health Dept., Restaurant Division. As far as I can tell, or the two people I talked to at the Health Dept., no one knows anything about the prohibition to which Chris referred.
In my experience, Chris is as reliable and accurate as they come; but I think he was misinformed. For insance, Chris's informant may have been in some special situation where the inspector was able to require NSF approved knives or something. Let's wait to hear more from Chris.
Based on my research, there doesn't seem to be a general carbon ban for restaurant kitchens. Assuming that's correct: I don't recommend carbon knives to anyone who isn't already sure they're willing to deal with the extra care carbon requires. Similarly, I don't recommend Sab carbon (or any other knife, for that matter) to anyone who isn't willing to accomodate thier sharpening requirements. If you can handle those things, carbon has a lot of advantage, and K-Sab au carbone compares very well with some really good western style Japanese carbons -- Kikuichi Elite, Masamoto CT, and Misono Sweden to name a few. You can buy better carbon for more money (Masamoto HC, for instance), and get almost-as-nice carbons for less money (Kanemasa, Fujiwara e.g.).
Words do not suffice to describe the creamy delicousness that is a good French carbon chef's knife. Nevertheless, here goes. Not too heavy, not too light. Get sharp. Steel up very nicely. Perfect geometry. The end.
Sabatiers aside, if carbon were prohibited, most sushi bars would close their doors.
When knife folk talk about "carbon," or "high carbon" we don't mean high-carbon stainless which is a different animal altogether. Because stainless has so much chrome in the alloy, very complicated formulations are required to get it to perform as well as a good carbon for a blade.
Your Shun is thre layer, "san mai" (aka warikomi) construction. It's three layers; a hagane (the middle layer which is used for the edge) and two jigane (outer layers, making production cheaper). In the case of Shun, all three layers are stainless -- so you can relax.
The Professional series are incredibly good knives; and an excellent choice for a professional kitchen. The handles are as good as any in the industry. The blades are much stiffer than any other high-end Japanese knife, something most western cooks love. Their edge taking and holding properties are extremely good. If you're looking at any sort of budget, I'm not sure I'd spend the money on a MAC Pro paring or petty (PFK 50), but would definitely spend it for the chef's (MBK 95 and 110). Not necessarily THE first choice, but certainly among them.
The "boning knife w/ the sheath" is really a fishing knife. It's a good knife if you like a knife like that -- which I don't. Also, it's very thin VG-1 and isn't the easiest knife in the world to sharpen on stones; the MAC rollsharp actually works pretty well on it.
Forschner Fibrox (and Rosewood) are definitely a step above Dexter Sanis; but just a step. In the same high-value, commercial class, have your boss take a look at Mora. Much better blade steel; same bunk, NSF approved handles.
Looking forward to it,
BDL
