I'm fairly new to the world of finishing, in the past I've always just used the standard water based polyurethane. I am in the process of making a pantry for my kitchen. It's 7' tall by about 3' wide, with cherry plywood sides and solid cherry face frame. The doors are solid cherry raised panel. I'd like to use something that is somewhat more appropriate for a cherry piece than poly. We haven't decided on color yet, though we tried some Old Masters Crimson Fire on the sides and like the look of that but when we tried that stain on the solid cherry it was very blotchy and did a great job of hiding the beautiful grain of the cherry. So I just got some dye and will be messing around with that. Once we get a color, what would be a good choice for the finish? Preferably something that a novice finisher can do but that will also leave me with a nice, durable luster. We don't want gloss, rather something more rich looking.

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Stan