Painting - Please help - painting a dining table

I have made a dining table using a fire door so the surface is plywood, now I want to paint it a solid colour but am unsure of which product to use. I need it to be wipe-able and somewhat heat resistant. I was thinking of using an emulsion and then a varnish, but don't really want high gloss, ideally more satin. But I really don’t know where to start and what to use. Do I need to use a primer before the paint, and what can I use to prevent it chipping and being able to take the day-to-day wear and tear. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Welcome to the forums

First you need to sand and dust all surfaces to be painted, then coat it with an oil base primer, preferably an enamel undercoater but most interior oil base primers will work. Then apply 2 coats of a quality oil base enamel, sanding between coats. Waterborne enamel is a good substitute for oil, I wouldn't recomend latex.

Enamels are washable [some more than others] but none are all that heat resistant. You would still need to protect the surface from hot pans and such as you would any painted/varnished surface.

Thanks for your help - I'll be hitting the shops tomorrow.

On a personal note, I used Ben Moore's Satin Impervo oil-based enamel for the paint on my own dining room table
(I paint for a living)
It's performance has been impressive and I can strongly recommend it