Nominee: Mike Blocher of Table X
Table X has evolved over the years. Started by a team of chefs who came from traditional fine dining restaurants on the East Coast, Nick Fahs and Mike Blocher have recently gone to a single tasting menu. While Nick focuses on the restaurant’s bakery (now selling directly to customers), Mike sources food locally, much of it from the restaurant’s own garden.
“Last summer we started seating in the garden area,” Mike says. “You’re next to the plants you’re enjoying, and in the winter we’re working to preserve the excess of what we grow so you’re always going to get flavors from the garden.”
The duo uses the bakery to experiment with fermentation, pickling and other preservation techniques in the restaurant’s tradition of exploration.
“We try to push the boundaries of the food scene here but we don’t over-manipulate,” Mike says. “We use a small number of ingredients for each dish and present it to catch your eye. There are no parameters except that there is definitely not a burger on our menu.”
Dishes not to miss
The restaurant’s tasting menu means there isn’t a dish you can miss, although there is both a vegetarian and omnivore lane to choose from. Each evening’s tasting, either five or seven courses, with optional wine pairings, is built with seasonal ingredients in mind designed to create an experience.
One cool thing
Table X has always had house-made bread and butter on the menu. But during the pandemic, the bread operation has grown. They started making and selling bread wholesale to other restaurants and recently opened a storefront bakery where you can buy loaves and bread-forward pastries directly from the restaurant.
Table X // 1457 E. 3350 South, SLC, 385-528-3712
Nominated by: Angie Fuller of Oquirrh
‘Why I love Table X’
“I love that they’ve gone to a tasting-menu-only format. Just to be like, ‘this is our menu tonight, let us feed you.’ That’s something this city hasn’t had since (Viet Pham’s) Forage. It opens people’s minds and that’s really important. We share a commonality with Table X in that we want to cook with as many seasonal products as we can. Farm-to-table isn’t anything new, but Table X thinks in terms of putting the best, freshest ingredients on the plate. It takes extra effort but it elevates all of us supporting the local growers that we all use and by showing people just how good food can be.”
Why does Table X deserve to be recognized in the 2022 Dining Awards?
“First of all and probably most importantly, the food is good. It’s thoughtfully prepared and served beautifully. But I also see Table X trying to help set apart Salt Lake’s dining scene. They are part of a community of restaurant owners and chefs who are convincing people that there is great food here.” — Angie Fuller of Oquirrh
Oquirrh // 368 E. 100 South, SLC, 801-359-0426
This year, we are doing our Dining Awards a little bit differently. In the spirit of Utah’s close-knit and supportive dining industry, we asked some of the top industry professionals to nominatetheir favorite chefs. The 2022Salt LakeMagazine Dining Awards presents 12 honorees, each paired by their mutual admiration for each other and love of good food. Read the full list of winners. Subscribe for more Salt Lake magazine.
