I've not been into kitchen knives long, but it does seem like there's some interest building here. I've wondered if its the result of social media where people are sharing pics of stuff they own and getting others interested. I know the tactical folder community has gotten a lot of momentum thru instagram, youtube, etc.
As someone that has had interest in tactical folders for a long time, I'll say the kitchen knife community is only a fraction of what tac folder community. KKF is pretty much the best place I've found for kitchen cutlery, but it's a fraction of bladeforums and USN.
I'd really like to see kitchen knife interest take off, but here's the main barrier - the most confusing thing about Kitchen knives is lack of manufacturer knowledge. When I asked for knife recomendations people were throwing out different Japanese brands and I had no idea who they were. There is limited information on the web because most of it is in Japanese. Took me like 2 months of reading KKF to feel like I knew anything (and I'm still learning).
Folding knives most people know Spyderco, Benchmade, Kershaw, Buck, ZT, Emerson, etc. Kitchen knives most people know Henckels, Wustoff, and maybe Shun (none of which are recommended here usually). There needs to be a sticky that rates brands by relative tier. Like in folding knives you could easily say Kershaw (budget), ZT (midgrade), Chris Reeve (premium). Somebody needs to tell the noobies Tojiro (budget), Takeda (midgrade), Shigefusa (premium). This cloud of confusion is what allows brands like Richmond to be successful because all the uninformed consumers know are buzzwords like M390, Aogami Super, High Rc!