Order This: Bar Dough’s Tricolore Salad

There is so much fervor surrounding Bar Dough, chef Max Mackissock‘s casual Italian spot in LoHi, that it would be easy to miss one of the best parts of the menu. It’s neither the pizza, which is justifiably excellent with scorch marks on the bottom and a thin but sturdy shelf that resists sogginess, nor is it the perfectly al dente pasta. Instead, the must-try dish is the tricolore salad.

Named for colors that mimic that of the Italian flag, this salad is anything but predictable (there’s no mozzarella, tomato, avocado, or basil). Mackissock combines shaved cauliflower with radicchio, shishito peppers, pistachios and dehydrated cantaloupe. “I love the little pop of sweetness to balance the bitterness of the radicchio,” Mackissock says. Indeed, the nuggets of fruit almost act like dates in chewiness, and their flavor is somewhat reminiscent of dried papaya or mango. Taken all together, the salad is a delicious juxtaposition of texture and flavor.

Mackissock assures the tricolore will be available for quite some time (“I would guess until spring”), but you’ll want to check it out—and the rest of Bar Dough’s offerings—long before then.

2227 W. 32nd Ave., 720-668-8506

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