The more I cook, the more that I find that I use perhaps 5-10% of the kitchen equipment that I own.
My essentials are:
Good knife set - mine is a Henckel's International set made in Japan and purchased 20 years ago. They are like new.
Several extra paring knives.
6-8 good cutting boards
Bamboo cooking utensils - they do NOT melt or burn very easily.
Grating box