Organic, healthy & locally grown eats at Green Table in Coral Gables

Jodi Mailander Farrell2/15/2012

The next freshest thing to driving to the Redland and picking your own produce may be Coral Gables’ Green Table, which tosses salads with locally grown greens and serves only organic chicken and grass-fed beef.

Step around the Community Supported Agriculture boxes of eggs, veggies and honey waiting outside the door every Saturday to be picked up by CSA members and sink your teeth into juicy, well-seasoned grilled portobello mushrooms with carrot-studded brown rice, sautéed peppers sprinkled with sesame seeds and cilantro aioli for dipping.

You can perch on stools inside the teeny space, once occupied by Whisk, or order takeout, which comes in sturdy brown boxes. The meatloaf, chunky with black olives, carrots and onions, was still warm when we got it home. Snappy green beans and rustic mashed potatoes surrounded the large slice of ground beef, gussied up with merlot gravy.

A sophisticated olive vinaigrette sets apart the Greek salad, with just the right mix of greens, feta, tomato, red onions, cucumbers and olives. The blue burger, 8 ounces of grass-fed beef topped with caramelized onions and (not enough) blue cheese, came on a delicious brioche bun.

The brother-sister team behind this 1-year-old restaurant has found its niche jazzing up healthy food with raita and lively aioli (chipotle, cilantro-spinach) and festooning quinoa with fruits and nuts.