Even before your first bite, when your plate arrives (or you peek at your neighbor’s table at their delectable fare), you’ll start to realize why Poppy has gotten this sort of buzz:

Instead of a course after course meal, Poppy serves it’s 7 items and 10 items all at once, on one large, gorgeous “thali” platter.  Almost all of the dishes on our platters could stand on their own – using seasonal ingredients and fresh herbs and spices (peek outside in the back before you leave to see their awesome herb garden.  Thali is an Indian dish style, but the restaurant only borrows that concept  – the dishes are Chef Jerry Traunfeld’s creations. Traunfeld opened Poppy in 2008 after 17 years at The Herbfarm.

We enjoyed the eggplant fries as a starter (I generally don’t like eggplant, but it was the boyfriend’s birthday and he was craving them…I totally understand why – deep fried and honey, these aren’t like any eggplant dish I’d ever had). I went with the 10 item thali (next time I’ll go with 7, which would have been plenty for me, esp after the app) and my personal favorites were the

• lavender-rubbed muscovy duck leg with grilled peach and huckleberries
• cauliflower nutmeg soup  with rosemary pesto (I don’t like soup or cauliflower, so I’m still puzzled by this adoration)
• melon and tomato salad with mint (amazing combination!)
• corn basil spoonbread