Must have kitchen tools

A good quality immersion blender.

Zester

Half sheet pans with wire rack inserts.
Double mesh strainers.
A steamer basket.
Instant read thermometer.
Bar towels.

Reading through this I will add very sharp scissors and butcher paper

Nothing is more important than very sharp knives

I love my salad shooter. I have had it for years and it comes in handy for all kinds of things. I use it for grating cheese, shredding veggies like potatoes for hash browns, carrots for a carrot salad, etc.

I love my shrimp shears
They make peeling/de-veining super easy

A few months back I bought one of these tabletop cheese graters and find myself using it about once a week. We buy block cheese and shred it fresh, I've used it to slice sweet potatoes for homemade chips, sliced cucumbers for pickles, shredded carrots for slaw, etc. Nifty little thing to have.

Serious Eats and Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen provide excellent reviews, recommendations, and testing of kitchen equipment. SE is free/Cooks is subscription. I recommend utilizing those resources to help figure out what you might need.

Here's what I find handy...
Infrared thermometer for surface temps
Thermapen
Bench scraper
Fish spatula
Offset spatula
Zester/grater
Spider strainer
Saucier - maybe my most used pan in the kitchen. I have 4qt at All Clad
Quarter sheet tray - I used the smaller pan for prepping meats or smaller veggie trays. Good balance with the large half sheets
Carbon steel pan

Garlic press

I also have a slap chopper which also dices and it's a big time saver for me. Try dicing two dozen tomatopes by hand and you'll want one.