While fitness trends continue to push diets that cut out heavy potato, pasta and rice dishes, cauliflower is having a moment. Whether it's mashed, pickled, grilled like a steak or coated in wing sauce, this nutritious vegetable certainly doesn't resemble the soggy, colorless healthy choice of years past. Check out these six popular cauliflower dishes from around Atlanta.
Bocado
887 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta. bocadoatlanta.com
Complete with grilled vegetables and a spicy jalepeño ailoi, Bocado's roasted cauliflower and eggplant sandwich puts the flowery veggie center stage with plenty of doughy baguette to envelope the savory center. Easily one of Atlanta's best vegetarian sandwiches, the cilantro garnish adds a refreshing twist that keeps this menu item at the top of many lists.
Cook Hall
3377 Peachtree Road, Atlanta. cookhallatlanta.com
Tucked away inside the W Buckhead, Cook Hall's menu is chock full of interesting vegetable creations that range from a cucumber mignonette (a tasty topping for oysters) to crispy shishito peppers. Its side of caramelized cauliflower is so satisfying, it's almost capable of jumping from the sides menu to an appetizer.
Rathbun's
112 Krog St. NE, Atlanta. rathbunsrestaurant.com
Sure, the prominent role of butter in this dish from Atlanta's mainstay adds a few extra calories. But choosing the brown butter cauliflower mash over its mashed potato counterpart deserves a pat on the back even when the healthy option is as decadent as this superstar side.
Local Three
3290 Northside Parkway NW, Atlanta. localthree.com
For those vegetarians who still kind of miss hot wings (or dieters still looking to kick the craving), look no further than Local Three's side of buffalo cauliflower. Served with celery and blue cheese dressing, this item will have the table fighting over the last bite.
Lure
1106 Crescent Ave. NE, Atlanta. lure-atlanta.com
Midtown seafood restaurant Lure has multiple cauliflower items on the menu, pairing its own take on the mashed cauliflower craze with a seared salmon and tasty cedar-smoked mushrooms. But the veggie steps into the spotlight in the restaurant's seared cauliflower steak entree, served with tamarind, pistachios, mint coulis, yogurt and rice.
Bartaco
Buckhead, West Midtown, and Inman Park locations. bartaco.com
With an expanding list of locations and a menu with options for meat lovers and vegetarians alike, Bartaco wins with its cauliflower taco. The dish serves up the vegetable of the moment roasted and topped with a Spanish-influenced romesco sauce, lending it a unique flavor outstanding enough to order an extra taco to-go.
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