I don't know how much legitimacy there is to the Teflon panic. I actually wrote a thesis on ski wax using Teflon as the generic formula for performance ski wax, and the whole reason that it's effective is that it's almost totally inert. It doesn't stick to anything. That being said, I don't know very much about the debate and I do have a frying pan that now has the Teflon coating peeling up that I have decided to replace.

The real issue for me is that Teflon coated cookware is essentially temporary. It's going to scrape, it's going to peel and you're going to have to replace it. If you buy a more expensive All-Clad stainless steel set, you should be able to hold on to it for life if you treat it well.

After you buy your expensive set, you're still going to need to compliment it with a non-stick pan for eggs and crepes. In my search I found that two brands were pretty good value. Cuisinart makes a Chef's Classic line that hard-anodized and is well respected and seems to perform well. I decided to go with the hard-anodized Emerilware. Though it pains me to have something endorsed by a man as corpulent and annoying as Emeril, his cookware is made by All-Clad and represents some really good value. The hard-anodized is not as non stick as the Teflon but it will last you a lot longer.