February 27, 2014
For recently being named the Best New Restaurant by Washington City Paper, Table was refreshingly…unfussy.
A small number of tables, no big crowds (at least the weekday evening we were there), and low-key and helpful staff gives Table the feel of a favorite neighborhood spot. At the same time, the backdrop almost fade away, providing a platform to elevate the food and wine, the freshness of the ingredients and the careful, but not overly contrived, engineering of flavor combinations.
We started with two appetizers, a beet salad and a mushroom toast. The modest portions forced you to focus on the ingredients and how well they played off each other. (J: “Modest” = not enough on my plate.) For dinner, we had the root vegetable bowl, with consisted of various roasted vegetables in winter squash accented with purple mustard. (J: Still hungry.) The wine – a pinot noir and burgundy, both recommended by the waiter – heightened the flavors. Simple, yet thoughtful.
(J: Yes, the food was good. However, afterwards, I was craving the warm embrace of a real neighborhood spot. Another spot, also known for being “unfussy,” but perhaps a tad (read: a lot) on the greasier end. See below for the review of my second (more like fourth) course.)
So, for vegetarians that like a lot of options or heartier fare, a cautionary note is that there were only couple of veggie-friendly appetizers and one entrée (which also should be noted was entirely vegetable based, without any starch or protein). Granted, Table does host Meatless Mondays, which we look forward to trying. There were a lot of options for non-vegetarians and our dinner companions, who generally keep to a pescetarian diet when eating out, enjoyed their (much more generously-sized) entrees tremendously.