Will food ever come in direct contact with the wood? Chances are the answer is yes. You need something food-safe. Trailrunner, Rhome410, and many, many others have used a product called Waterlox. If you search the forum for that word, you'll find many threads. There have been at least two in the past week.

Thank you, breezy - I have indeed read many posts here about Waterlox, but I will not be finishing the top myself. The wood is apparently sealed, but not yet stained and varnished.

Can you put Waterlox on top of that? From what I've read, it sounds like people apply many coats of it to the raw wood, as a sealer. I think my wood top may already be beyond that point.

And my top isn't butcher block, it is walnut planks, described to me as something that will look, ultimately, like "a dining room table."

But I will search through old posts and see what I discover.