Tables (Denver)

[Robin Meredith]

Visited a restaurant called Tables tonight in the Park Hill neighborhood on the recommendation of a friend. It's another one of the intimate, slightly quirky, chef-driven restaurants that Denver really excels at (thinking Duo, Fruition, Table Six, Cafe Star, etc.), but with a twist - a strong seasonal orientation (not that common around Denver) and a real greenmarket culture. Dinner tonight was an extremely well assembled spinach salad with bacon, multicolored beets, blue cheese, pickled onions, and cucumbers, and a simply amazing entree of crusted halibut over heirloom tomatoes, snap peas, and baby carrots. The carrots were undercooked, but everything else about this dish was spectacular, and it is the only heirloom tomato dish I've had all season that really delivered.

Wine list is quirky and short (typical for these places), but I had an Aussie Semillon by the glass that was an excellent choice and a good match with the food. The place is a bit cramped, but I was so caught up with the food I didn't really notice. Highly recommended.