The 5th String recently opened on August 12 at the location of the former Old Major restaurant in the Highlands neighborhood. The building used to be home to a roller skating rink 100 years ago but now it’s opened up and airy with some outside seating. Chef/owner, Amos Watts, loves to play the banjo, hence the name. He focuses on produce and family-style dinners. Mile High Dining was not sorry to see Old Major go as they did not treat their employees properly and we love vegetable-focused fare.
For take away dinner number 22, we had 5 small plates of vegetables: beets, cauliflower, tomatoes, beans, and squash. The pickup process had few understandable hiccups.
The beets had a terrific presentation and included pickled golden beets, citrus, sesame, and tarragon but it was missing the goat cheese. The red beets needed more roasting, their texture was a bit tough.
The tomato braised summer beans included green and yellow beans and lots of tomatoes. It was delicious as the tomatoes we’re slightly braised with a little spice. An excellent dish.
Amos’ Summer Squash and Val’s Eggplant included fried olives, tomatoes, holoumi cheese sounded like a winner but was boring in taste. The squash was a very large piece but it lacked flavor. The fried olives were the highlight of this dish.
The heirloom tomatoes with smoked grapes, pine nuts, stracciatella cheese, and baby green melons was a great tasting small dish. The smoked grapes added an interesting and new flavor to the tomatoes.
The crispy cauliflower and green tomatoes includes pickled watermelon, almonds, cheese, and cilantro was very good in taste but did not stay warm enough after a drive home. That’s one problem with the takeaway dinners but one diner selected it as the best dish of the evening.
The small plates used several unfamiliar ingredients such as cucamelons (baby green melons) and holiumi cheese. Mile High Dining had to use Google several times. That’s keeps it interesting.
Mile High Dining ratings are as follows: It’s OK, Good, Very Good, and Excellent.
The Verdict ⚖️ for The 5th String is Very Good. Next, we want to try one of the family style dinners such as a whole roasted chicken.
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