We were just talking about this in another thread: The French Peasant Chef knife from Lee Valley. We love ours so much we had to buy a second one because we were always stealing it from one another. Pretty much anything from them is a good bet. We also use the Vintage-style spatula every day. The lifetime Measuring cups and spoons are also super worthwhile. You pretty much can't go wrong there.

Most everything we don't have from Lee Valley is from OXO.

Don't get a big knife set right away. Or at all really! We don't even have a paring knife since we never used it. I prefer using a y-peeler or a potato peeler. If you like making bread or buying it unsliced a bread knife is also good idea.

If you don't have much space - a silicone collapsible colander is so much easier to store.