Try "Nero Orion" granite with a honed finish. Here is a job we recently did in this material.

Beautiful! Is there any veining? What is the meintenxe? Thank you!

The amount of veining will vary greatly from slab to slab. Here is a good article for granite maintenance. http://usenaturalstone.org/caring-for-granite/

This question has come up before and several responses have been "honed jet mist (virginia jet mist) granite- has the look of soap stone."

Here is an article on honed granite that you might get some ideas from.

http://lovehomedesigns.com/honed-granite/

Don't know if you've seen this article on soap stone that may help guide your decision whether to go this way or not.

[https://www.houzz.com/magazine/kitchen-counters-durable-easy-clean-soapstone-stsetivw-vs~3561803[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/kitchen-counters-durable-easy-clean-soapstone-stsetivw-vs~3561803)

Soapstone is great as it is. Its been used in science labs for years because of its durability and ease of maintenance.

Negresco Honed or Polished Granite

Black Pearl Leathered Granite

Jet Mist Honed GraniteSteel Grey Leathered Granite

Titanium Quartzite

Absolute black is beautiful and dense. So is Negresco. Many fabricators will not seam AB because it is almost impossible to make the customer happy with its seam.

I originally wanted soapstone, but preferred something harder. After looking at a lot of stone, we ended up with honed Virginia Mist. Looks great (or, as I like to say, looks gneiss), saved a bit of cash over soapstone, and my wife can't damage it, no matter how hard she tries.

I originally wanted soapstone counters, but we couldn't find anything we liked that we could afford near us. Then I stumbled upon my steel grey leathered granite (it's also called brushed instead of leathered, but it's the same thing, and they are different than honed or flamed granite.) I will post several photos so you can see how sometimes it looks more medium grey, it does look mottled, and other times it looks almost black. (It really depends on the lighting and the angle you're looking at it from) It doesn't look exactly like soapstone or anything, but for my kitchen it was still in the ballpark of what I wanted. I adore the FEEL of the leathered granite compared to honed granite, the leathered really reminds me of how soapstone feels. It does feel textured, you can feel the small bumps... but that doesn't mean it catches crumbs or junk, it still wipes off just as easily as a polished granite. (The bumps you feel are smooth like Mexican river rock or something)
I have had zero issues with staining or scratching, it is very durable that way. I will not lie though, it have had some chips. I think it's exasperated by the fact that we went with the simple pencil edge because we prefer that look... but it's the worst about chips (with any stone I understand) Good news is that the chips can be repaired, and the nature of this particular stone means that it hides the repairs incredibly well. It may not look it from the photos, but I have a very busy and well used kitchen... we are a fairly large family and we cook a lot, so the kitchen gets a lot of hard use. I personally wasn't looking for a soapstone with a lot of veining, I wanted a more even black... so this steel grey granite appealed to me more. I've seen this stone on the polished and it looks completely different, and it's not one I would be interested in that way, but I adore the leathered.

I'll add my two cents regarding honed Virginia/Jet Mist granite. It's about as hard and dense as you can get, with soft white veining that looks like white spray, easy to clean. I've had laminate, butcher block, marble and quartz, and it's the only countertop I've had that is both easy care, cost-effective and beautiful. It works great with white cabinets and wood flooring, and definitely is the closest to soapstone I've seen.

I love Jet mist - leathered or honed.

Via Lactea (Milky Way) is also a great granite doppleganger for soapstone- obviously, honed or leathered.

Edited to correct- honed OR leathered finish

I love soapstone but I too did not want to deal with the scratches or dents or powder feel of Soapstone. I went with Virginia Jet Mist granite in a honed finish which had this wonderful feel to it. I love those counters and everyone thought they were soapstone.

These are all Virginia Jet Mist granite in either honed or leathered finishes.

Val, apologies, that should have said honed or leather. I will correct it upthread.

So here's a couple of pics of our honed Virginia Mist. It went in a little over a month ago in our 60 year old MCM. We were looking to soapstone to keep the vintage vibe but this works very well. Forgive the dirtiness, as I just snapped these after my wife cooked dinner, and I just put up the backsplash this past weekend, and haven't grouted or put up the metal edge.

I really like that Virginia Mist... so pretty!!

Swoon ^^^^^