The chickpea fries call me back to Tabellas restaurant

I have been thinking about the chickpea fries from Tabellas restaurant in Amherst since I first ate them this winter. I’ve been craving them. Craving chickpeas? Yes.

So my daughter Livvy and I recently returned to Tabellas, located next to Amherst Cinema (official address: 28 Amity St.), recently and ordered the chickpea fries ($7.50) again. They did not disappoint. Somehow the chefs at Tabellas have managed to remove the grainy texture from chickpeas and make them light.

It’s not just the fries and how they come stacked like Lincoln Logs. It’s the aioli that’s served with them. It’s filled with fresh herbs and lemon and it perfectly complements the saltiness of the fries.

Before I go on to note the other food we tried, I must mention that the service at Tabellas is impeccable. Not too intrusive, but always there when we wanted something. Also, they have an amazing outdoor dining area, but we didn’t try it because it was cold the evening we visited. (www.tabellasrestaurant.com, 413-253-0220)

We tried the special, croques made with feta and lightly-curried root vegetables from Red Fire Farm in Granby with a sweet chili dipping sauce. The curry flavor was faint, but the chili dipping sauce was strongly flavored with a honey-like sweetness.

We split a main dish, the rib eye steak with Merlot caramelized onions (oh so sweet), Bernaise butter and mashed potatoes with sour cream and organic chives from Tabellas garden ($31.) The plate was also drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction that was so tasty we asked for more from the kitchen.

The steak was exceptionally flavorful and marbled with fat, done medium rare without even asking. Livvy loved the mashed potatoes. “They are buttery and they are succulent.’’ But she also appreciated the caramelized onion which went so well with the steak and balsamic reduction.

My favorite part of Tabellas is the owners’ commitment to buying as many local organic products as possible. Their Web site lists all the different farms and businesses they buy from and shows pictures of chickens and pigs, presumably from the farms they buy from (the animals look happy.)

The restaurants serves as a distribution site for Red Fire Farm shareholders and before we went into eat, I looked at all those fresh veggies and couldn’t wait to get in there to eat some. A highlight of the seasonable vegetables during our meal was the extraordinary crisp cutting greens that are dressed in light vinaigrette I can only dream of recreating at home.

While I consider Tabellas to be one of Amherst’s more expensive restaurants, but splitting an entrée (perhaps the most expensive one on the menu, selected by my daughter) made it quite affordable with a total just over $50. And I was stuffed and sorry I couldn’t fit in dessert. The strawberry shortcake looked amazing.

If you have any comments or suggestions about Table Hopping, I welcome your input. Also, if you know the origin of strawberry shortcake, we’d like to find out. All this can be sent to me at nancyhgonter@gmail.com.