In the upper left corner you may catch a glimpse of my old bain marie full of tools accrued. Each one of those has a purpose, but I've grown accustomed to using my other main tools in their place. Look at what I've assembled here: a knife, a spoon, a pepper mill, a pour bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and my working supply of salt.
My knife is a Shun chef's knife. I like to say it's the cheapest of the expensive Japanese knives. I would never tell someone they should buy a Shun, or whatever kind of knife. That's really a decision for the person to make, and that decision is just a reflection of the relationship that person has with the knife they get. When you work professionally in a kitchen, your knife is an extension of your being, and while it may matter at some places what kind of knife you wield, the main thing is that you be comfortable using it all day. I held that Shun every day until I worked at a place where you didn't have to bring your own gear. All the cool (fake) wavy tiger marks have work off. The steel is double edged (sharp on both sides of the edge), rare for Japanese knives, and it holds its edge longer than most German steel.
My spoon is slotted (it has holes) and the 'bowl' portion is as large as those spoons you'll see in any greasy spoon or Chinese restaurant, but the handle is small like a regular spoon. I worked at a place that didn't let you use tongs--only spoons--and while I have a matching non-slotted spoon, I use this far more often. Everybody at that job had the exact same spoon, and we all carved our initials into the back of the handle. There was one store on 31st that had them, and they made a bundle off us. It was not an inexpensive spoon. I would never tell someone to buy a specific type of spoon, and in many cases tongs will be just as good, but you'll need a trusty tool to just use as a hand extension that isn't sharp.
My pepper mill is the result of that same job I had that made me get my nice spoons. It's a Peugeot, and when you get it in your hands you can see why it's the price it is. When you use it almost as much as your spoon, and still less than your knife, you want something quality made. In any case, fresh ground pepper is superior to the alternative.
A variety of oils should be at hand; I'd say at least two kinds, a vegetable and some extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin is the only way to go. I worked with a caterer once who used olive oil pomace. His wife would come in and say, "Just put some of that olive oil on it," to make it taste better I guess she thought. Pomace oil was just recently made edible by the addition of some chemical esters. Olives are pressed and the first oil that comes off of it is extra virgin. After all the subsequent pressings, the pits and debris are collected, mixed with solvent that separates the remaining flesh, and pressed a last time. This oil is called pomace, or pomace oil, and was mostly used for industrial gearing and piping. It's only recently that it has been made edible, but it doesn't taste very good.
I keep my salt in an easily moved and easily refillable container, specifically a tiny jam jar. I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. I would suggest using a similar setup, a refillable container that easy to move around. I would definitely recommend Diamond Crystal kosher if it's available, but other kosher salt would be sufficient. Kosher salt is one of the few non-negotiable in a nice kitchen, especially one like my Gonzo kitchen.
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