Reddit mentions of Chef Remi Cutting Board - Lifetime Replacement Warranty - Best Rated Hardwood Chopping Block - Large 16x10 Inch Kitchen Tool - Stronger Than Plastic W

There's a lot of middle ground between Walmart knives and a $1500 set, and there is no such thing as a perfect knife. Everyone has their own preferences, which can only come from experience. Dropping four digits on knives without having this experience is a good way to waste a lot of money.

That is why for your first set of quality knives I recommend getting something middle-of-the-road and saving the rest of your money for later.

For example, you could go with this set: chef+paring, utility, serrated, ceramic hone, cutting board. Learn to use these knives and care for them, develop your own likes and dislikes, and then decide where you want to go next.

Extra cutting boards are pretty good to have in the house.

Protection gloves are a must for gardening. Or, Digging claws

Not a fan of end grain, drags on the knife edge. I would get something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Chef-Remi-Cutting-Board-Replacement/dp/B01N2LZ6D5/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1497709670&sr=8-3&keywords=hardwood+cutting+board

The well is nice to keep liquids, like blood, from oozing all over your counters.

Not a fan of plastic either. You can get plastic shavings in your food and at some point, they can hold onto food particles, dishwasher or not.

I've been using wood as long as I can remember and all my family members used wood too, so that's nearly 60 years worth, never been a problem.