...all the professional kitchens I've seen use very nice professional kitchen equipment. They don't use damascus steel knives because that doesn't offer any advantage in function, but they aren't using cheap anything. Pots, pans, and knives work for a very long time and it doesn't make sense spending little to not get good ones. You can't get heavy guage stainless pots and pans for cheap, ply or no ply. The knives are the most used tool in food prep - they spend money on quality steel and good ergonomics so they dont have to work harder than they need to. In some places people bring their own knives.
When you sharpen a knife several times a day it’s going to wear out fast, even if it’s expensive. Pots and pans get bashed about and dropped, which damages even expensive pans.
Maybe it’s different in the UK but we never used fancy knives or cookware in the kitchens I’ve worked.
thats why you use quality knives that need sharpening less often. You still sharpen them because that makes the work take less time and effort. They're not fancy they're just high end. They're not damascus steel because that doesn't offer any actual advantages. Thats why you can get a shitty henkels knife for $50 anywhere you look, but the actual zwilling pro chef's knife is 3x the price - because you don't need to sharpen it as often - it keeps the edge for longer.
It's not a question of fancy. Regular looking pans and pots made from ultra thick gauge stainless steel dont look fancy, but they survive being dropped on the ground without issue.
You have a big miscomprehension if you think expensive = fancy. Not fancy, rather ultra utilitarian but high quality.
