Table Twenty Five: That Posh New Place on 25th Street
Table Twenty Five, one of the newest restaurants on Ogden’s Historic 25th Street, is a family affair. On the day of my scheduled Standard-Examiner interview a few weeks ago, Jaime and Justin Buehler’s nanny was out sick. So Justin was home watching their two- year-old twins, Henry and Grace, while Jaimie showed me the restaurant.
She told me how this marks a long-shared dream. When the couple went out on their first date, both of them talked of wanting to open their own restaurant. This conversation, while sitting at the restaurant’s “table number 25,” marked the start of their relationship. And years later, when they finally fulfilled their dream, it was on Ogden’s Historic 25th Street.
So Table Twenty Five was a fitting name for their new venture, opened Aug. 2.
Jaimie, born in California and raised in Australia, had worked in a Sydney café before moving to Europe to expand her culinary knowledge. Then she moved to California, where she met Justin, who was initially from Ogden.
The dream took longer than they hoped. The Buehlers spent the past seven years working at the acclaimed Copper Onion and Copper Common in Salt Lake City, while looking for the right spot and timing.
Their location, at 195 25th Street, is the former home of Jessie Jean’s, which closed during the pandemic. Before that, it’s was Karen’s Out West Cafe. The Buehlers gave the space a stylish, casual chic look, with large windows offering a see-and-be-seen view of 25th Street.
White tablecloths offer a sophisticated vibe, “But we don’t want to be stuffy or unapproachable,” said Jaimie Buehler. “We want everyone to feel comfortable here, whether it’s a casual lunch or celebration of a special occasion.”
The front sidewalk has outdoor dining tables. With the restaurant on the shady side of the street, diners avoid any glare from the sun.
Chef Baleigh Snoke, a Park City Culinary Institute grad who has cooked at Tradition and Avenues Proper in Salt Lake City, heads the kitchen.
“Baleigh has a lot of creativity, and she has a lot of connections with local farmers,” Jaimie Buehler said.
The Buehlers and Snoke created with a menu that offers a some variety, but is small enough that every dish can be well-executed. I think that’s better than offering long lists of mediocre items.
“When you have too big of a menu, you can’t make every item the best, you lose some quality control,” said Jaimie Buehler. “We want every dish to be the very best in Ogden.”
There are seven small plates, four salads, two pastas, three sandwiches, six entrees and two desserts.
An interesting small plate, and one of Jaime Buehler’s favorites, is Mussels & Frites ($16). In this take on a popular Belgian dish, mussels, local cherry tomatoes and chorizo are bathed in a pool of savory paprika-flavored broth, and topped with crispy house-made French fries.
“Some people are hesitant to try mussels, but every time, they’re blown away,” Buehler said.
The sesame-crusted ahi tuna ($24) is the most popular entrée so far. It’s served with seared snap peas, pickled carrots, spicy mayo and ponzu sauce.
The Beehive Burger ($15) is topped with apple-walnut smoked cheddar from artisan Beehive Cheese Company in Uintah. Buehler said they believe in supporting other local businesses such as Beehive Cheese.
“This community thrives off of other people’s support. So we use as much local as we can,” she said.
Other menu items include duck ragu over house-made pappardelle pasta ($20), pork chop with peach chutney and charred corn ($26); sockeye salmon with arugula pesto and baby carrots ($28). A vegetable hash features broccolini, asparagus, baby carrots, snap peas, fried fingerlings, baby kale and chimichurri ($16).
Last week I made a second trip to Table Twenty Five and ordered the Summer Market Salad. I’ll admit, $15 seems a bit spendy for mainly greens, with a few cherry tomatoes and bits of avocado, a couple slices of radish and cucumber, and a scattering of corn kernels and toasted pumpkin seeds. Everything tasted really fresh, and a lot of it was probably grown locally. Of course, prices are going up everywhere. And you’re not just getting a salad, you’re getting the ambiance that goes with it. But my frugal personality tends to prefer more substance and less style.
I also had the soup of the day, which, my server told me, was roasted garlic, $6. While the creamy, savory soup was delicious, the small portion left me wanting more. It didn’t fill the bowl even halfway.
The two desserts are a lemon olive oil cake ($8); and a hot fudge sundae ($8). The hot fudge, made with local Solstice chocolate, is poured table-side over the house-made vanilla ice cream. A pistachio topping adds a bit of crunch. While having my soup and salad, two women sitting at the next table next to mine polished off their meal with sundaes, and they loved the novelty of pouring the hot fudge at their table, and told me how wonderful it all tasted. This was a definite hit for them.
The menu will change based on seasonal ingredients, Buehler said. Given that the restaurant is pretty new, I imagine that some dishes might be tweaked, added to the menu, or taken off, depending on feedback from customers.
Table Twenty Five also offers takeout, but no third-party delivery. “We feel it affects the quality of our food,” she said.
Contact: 385-244-1825 or https://table25ogden.com
Hours: Daily 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday open until 10 p.m.
Prices: Salads, $9-15; Sandwiches, $14-$15, Entrees $21-32