Every now and then, a single dish's flavor, texture, appearance, and overall wow factor eclipse everything you've eaten for the past week, or month—or longer. For me, that dish is Fruition Restaurant's smoked sturgeon salad.

On the surface, the starter is quite simple: a stack of house-smoked sturgeon topped with a tumble of baby arugula and a drizzle of vinaigrette. This simplicity is the hallmark of chef-owner Alex Seidel's ingredient-driven cuisine.

But Seidel gussies up the sturgeon by playing off a typical caviar dish. He tops the fish with shaved red onion and egg mimosa (tiny sieved pearls of hard-boiled egg). He serves three quarter-size rye blinis on the side. And he dots the plate with black lentils, part of what he calls his beluga-lentil vinaigrette.

The result is light, creamy, crunchy, smoky, delicate, and rich. That's not easy to accomplish in one small plate—and that's why I'll be returning to Fruition soon.

1313 E. Sixth Ave., 303-831-1962