I love the good old fashioned soapstone. It is expensive but you can't beat it for durability and it never wears out and always looks good from the purist country style to the uber- modern.
I also love the new concrete. It can look so amazing.
I don't see all the fuss about "must have granite". it absorbs every stain and discolors from everything, and you are afraid of it. Not very enjoyable in my book.