RESTAURANT REVIEW + PHOTOS: Share a bite at Southern Table

Margie Raimondo's Southern Table, on Cross Street between cross streets (Third and Fourth), has a motto: "meant to be shared."

The cafe/deli, which replaced Kent Walker's Artisan Cheese, is next-door to Dempsey's Bakery, which is convenient for obtaining the gluten-free baked goods you can substitute for the glutinous breads and crackers on the menu.

This is not a good choice if you're looking for a big, hearty, artery-clogging burger-and-fries meal. Southern Table's focus is on "local and sustainable ingredients"; the kitchen makes "everything from scratch, from the soup stock to the gelato."

Some diners might use terms like "frou-frou" and "precious" to describe the farm-to-table, slightly Italian-accented menu, divided into five categories: "Bruschetta," "Bites," "Boards," "Snack Bites" and "Sweet Bites."

Most of it we liked. Service was universally good and friendly, except that orders and bills are done on a tablet, so you don't see a check and the waiter hovers while you calculate his tip.

Our waiter brought us a complementary sliding-stoppered bottle of cucumber-infused water and two shot glasses, which we refilled ourselves (often, because those glasses hold only about 4 ounces). A canned soft drink came with a small stemless wine glass.

We recommend, in suitable weather, dining outside. The patio seats about 40 at sturdy black-painted wooden tables (the two-tops are made from wine barrel lids), most umbrella-topped, with springy plastic patio chairs. Vegetation partially shields diners from passersby and, in part, traffic noises (Third and Cross are busy thoroughfares).

The interior, divided into a dining room that looks onto the kitchen and a bar area (wine and beer), while cozy, is a trifle claustrophobic. But do go inside, peruse and possibly purchase the Southern Table Retail preserves, mustards, cheeses, wines from Raimondo's winery and elsewhere, gadgets, etc.

First among our recommendations: the Italian Sausage and Peppers ($13), among the "Bites," is, believe it or not, gluten-free (at least if you get cucumber slices or gluten-free crackers in lieu of the cheese toast).

It wasn't, as we had expected, served in the usual Italian style, sausage slices sauteed with peppers and onions, but a single, very large, grilled Italian sausage, atop a bed of sauteed red-pepper strips and onions, with the cheese toast and a ramekin of house-made garlic mustard served in a separate basket. At first, second and third bites the sausage was nicely spiced but not especially fiery, but the red pepper seemed to balloon in the back end. The mustard was a nice but unnecessary accompaniment.

Somewhere along the line, unbeknownst to either us or our waiter, the Southern Table Cheese Soup ($6 for a good-size cup) had morphed into broccoli-cheese. We tasted plenty of broccoli, with a touch of black pepper that didn't particularly perk it up. What we didn't taste very much was cheese, and most of that was feta bits clinging to the crouton.

There are four categories of bruschettas: "Verdura" (greenery), "Funghi" (mushrooms), "Pesce" (fish) and "Pollame" (fowl). We enjoyed the "Verdura," Aunt Viv's Eggplant Caponata Siciliano ($10), from a Raimondo family recipe. The sweet-and-sour eggplant chunks merged with pine nuts, celery, fresh tomatoes and onions and what appeared to be capers and caper berries, served with what the menu claimed was garlic grilled bread, though if there was any garlic there it was certainly overwhelmed by the full, rich flavors of the caponata. We had considerably more caponata than bread -- we could have used another two slices at least -- eating the remainder with a fork, though, wasn't too big a burden.

Our Creamed Mushroom bruschetta ($13) was sloppy but delicious -- sliced seasonal locally grown 'shrooms (from Wye Mountain Mushroom Farm), sauteed and finished in a sherry cream sauce and served with grilled bread.

We're at least equally intrigued by the two we didn't try: Salmon With a Feta and Avocado Mash ($14), Icelandic gravlax-cured salmon served over a citrus cheese spread of avocado, feta and lime, and Duck and Fig ($14), "Raisin River smoked duck served with a smear of Southern Table goat spread and finished with a house-made fig rosemary preserve."

They weren't particularly citrusy, but the three grilled citrus shrimp that accompanied the Wedge Salad with Pancetta and Shrimp ($8) were the only thing about it we liked -- well, that and the pancetta. The blue cheese dressing on the large iceberg wedge was thin, and the blue cheese lacked sharpness. The rest of the topping, radish slices and, allegedly, cucumbers and onions, failed to excite.

There are nine cheeses and nine meats to choose from for the "Boards," each in three sizes -- the three-cheese Formaggio ($12, $15 and $22) and three-cheese, three-meat Charcuterie ($18, $23 and $35), each with fruit, house-made preserves, pickles and Boulevard Bread crackers and bread. The Charcuterie also comes with a creamy, somewhat spicy, coarse-ground mustard.

The $18 price tag on our small Charcuterie seemed steep until we saw how much food there was -- our cappicola, Genoa salami and prosciutto di Parma were all sliced very thin, which enhanced the flavor; the Leicester, sweet and spicy Cheddar and Prairie Breeze Alpine cheeses all turned out to be chunky, and moderately sharp. Baguette slices, a piece of flatbread and the small jar of thin but delicious strawberry preserves made for a pleasant and filling meal.

We're glad we yielded to the waiter's suggestion on our "Sweet Bite," house-made salted caramel gelato ($7.50) made, according to the menu, with "Southern Table feta to give [it] a salty finish," paired with a generous slice of strawberry-drizzled bundt cake.

Weekend on 10/19/2017