Summer tomatoes, corn, and peaches get all the glory, but 'tis the season for sunchokes, an edible tuber from the sunflower family. Often called Jerusalem artichokes (mostly because of the nutty, slightly astringent artichoke flavor), this underappreciated vegetable has found its place on menus from Restaurant Kevin Taylor to Root Down.

Earlier this week, I ordered the sunchoke fritters at the Village Cork in Platt Park. Rolled in a mixture of lemon verbena, tarragon, egg, and corn flour before being baked in the oven, these savory—and gluten-free—doughnuts (if you will) arrived with an avocado cream dipping sauce and mandoline-thin slices of skin-on cucumber. Though it's a shared plate, I would have happily eaten all four of the crispy bundles, set off by refreshing bites of cucumber, by myself.

It's simple yet inventive dishes like this that have endeared us to chef Samir Mohammad, and notched the Cork a spot on last year's Best New Restaurants list.

1300 S. Pearl St., 303-282-8399