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Perceptions of value blend price with assessments of quality, creativity and skill of execution. I consider this summer's meals at Table 16 the best I've ever had in North Carolina, yet they were priced just in the upper midrange, relative to other Triad restaurants, and far below the handful of other comparable dining experiences I have had in other states. To me, that constitutes real value.

Chef/owner Graham Heaton took over this property in May 2008, moving to Greensboro from La Residence in Chapel Hill, where he was executive chef for more than three years.

The restaurant's moderate size, with pale, green walls trimmed in white, helps create a calm mood. A chalkboard lists suppliers, mostly local, others elite.

I have praised the regular menu in the past. But this spring, the restaurant's e-mails announced tasting menus -- multiple small portions, sequenced over an evening. These elevate dining here to the elite level.

Chef Heaton deepens and extends flavors through the use of stocks, natural juices and reductions, as opposed to lots of butter and cream. But he knows when to stop. Creations are often complex but not because one ingredient is piled on top of another. On the contrary, his culinary art blends subtle shadings for the palate.

Tasting menus are often personalized. Call ahead. Table 16 does not charge a corkage fee if you want to bring something special (but please do not abuse the privilege). Other arrangements, with beers or non-alcoholic beverages, for example, are available as well. Tasting menus can be prepared to price if you let them know in advance how much you want to pay (within reason) or to fit particular interests -- all seafoods or meats, for example. Each course in the tasting menus I have ordered on three evenings was organized around wines, specified in advance.

To go with Champagne, the chef sent out Breton Sound Oysters and black pepper pappadam (grilled flatbread) with Jalisco chorizo (a premium sausage from Mexico), ruby grapefruit and basil butter. Diver Scallops and spicy "rice crispies" (rice noodles, seasoned and fried) with avocado and nuoc mam-lychee nut sauce made an appearance in another course. The puffy-crisp noodles lend texture, while the wording adds whimsy.

One chardonnay course brought Springer Mountain Chicken Liver over butterscotch lettuce, with sour cherry buttermilk and Marcona almonds. The mild chicken liver combined with the almonds to pick up light oak and vanilla flavors in the chardonnay. Two other chardonnay pairings worked just as well: Scottish Smoked Salmon with passion fruit sake, pistachio oil and a bean sprout piquillo (Spanish peppers) salad; and She Crab Soup, oozing rich crab and cream flavors, with a contrast of scallion jam and lemon candy.

Two fishes paired well with pinot noir: Black Grouper and roasted Gala apple over lamb's lettuce salad with smoked bacon dressing; and Ahi tuna tartare and okra fries with sweet white corn and a Creole heirloom tomato-vodka sauce. With Hudson Valley Foie Gras, red-eye gravy alongside charred artichoke and feta Chantilly cream, undergirded the mild duck liver exceptionally well, while a smoky flavor emerged from the artichoke.

With a cabernet sauvignon, Kobe Sirloin with a cranberry bordelaise sauce, Greek yogurt and double truffle creamed barley exuded rich depth of flavor. Axis Venison with black-eyed peas, andouille sausage and chimichurri (olive oil, vinegar, parsley, onion and garlic spiced with pepper) exhibited lean but tender texture along with full, well-matched flavors. A cabernet blend provided just the right weight for Roasted Quail stuffed with chorizo sausage cornbread, fried tomatillos alongside, twice sauced with black strap molasses bordelaise and chevre garlic.

With a syrah, braised Veal Cheeks with basil tomatoes and a tomato-smoked bacon-Madeira bordelaise sauce joined a potato salad of roasted red bliss and fingerlings with feta cheese. Dry Aged Strip Loin and homemade pimiento cheese with fried eggplant, sautéed haricot vert and a cracked black pepper bordelaise also stood up to this heavy red.

Cheese courses with Bordeaux blends closed the meals: San Joaquin cheese with pumpkin seeds, grilled mango and ciabatta toast; and Fire Fly Farms Mountain Top Bleu (goat's milk bleu with delicate veining), plus crostini, charred shallots, thin sliced Bartlett pear and Marcona almonds.

On my last visit, for a winery dinner featuring the wines of Joel Gott (strong on flavor and value), all regular seating was sold out. I noted one couple who dropped in on the sidewalk patio and two others occupying open seating in the bar area. With a full house in mid-sequence for a set menu to match these wines, wait staff took orders from the regular menu for all three couples, and the kitchen never broke stride. This is an efficient team.

Scott Riffee is manager. I feel confident turning wine selections over to him, and I would add that this is one of the few restaurants in our area that has some bottles with a few years of age on them, properly kept.

Each of the unindicted co-conspirators at my table could recall, perhaps, one particular dish somewhere else that they rated as high or perhaps marginally higher than one of these courses, but no one could name a complete meal served anywhere else in our locale that reached this level.

Everyone spontaneously mentioned The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif. I would not claim that Table 16 matches that level, where, for example, wait staff tell you the names of the cows that provided the milk for each hand-churned butter, and you can taste the difference. But to even mention one of the best restaurants in the nation in a conversation about an establishment in Greensboro says something very special about this relatively new entry into the Triad's culinary scene.

John Batchelor can be reached at P.O. Box 20848, Greensboro, NC 27420 or e-mail john.e.batchelor@gmail.com.