Creating a 'non-boxy' look in CSS

I'd like to create some webpages of lots of pictures & text with a 'non-boxy' look, a bit like this:

http://www.gracelandscafe.com/

but looking at the code they seem to have used tables.

I've been Googling all afternoon, reading various articles but haven't found anything that is a good fit for what I want to do.

I just wondered, how would you guys go about creating this look using CSS?

Well, i wouldn't but thats not what your after so i'll have a go. Personally I dislike the look of this page and don't think it reflects well on the business.

Id start with the usual CSS 'centered' layout, using a "container" div and set the width to the size of my banner, then the margins left and right to auto (someone mentioned a more acurate way to do this but i forget lol). Then id insert the banner and menu, get those in place as they hold it all together.

From there id say to get this specific look, id have to create a few different id's for different table looks, then throw the tables in there. You can tell when one table finishes and another starts quite easily. This one has been thrown together a bit too quickly though, as the right side of the page extends beyond the banner and the div the menu is in has retracted a bit because of weird image placement and little debugging.

But after all that, id say this page looks more 'boxy' than anything else. Nothing is inline, but it does look boxy.

I would agree with that sentiment. The site is cluttered, busy and doesn't incline me to look into it. Not really the effect any web designer should aspire to achieving.

The effect could be achieved with divs, but would involve some precision positioning.
I would recommend you try a different style.

Thanks for your opinions...tables it is then!