We’re down to the home stretch, ladies and gentlemen. Winter is finally releasing its icy grip on our concrete walls and thinly paned windows. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some winter, but eventually, even I tire of gray mornings and having to pre-warm my toilet seat. And while my love for winter root vegetables knows no bounds, the onset of spring brings about an incredible arsenal of produce that makes me practically dizzy with anticipation.

Between wonderfully tender-crisp asparagus, creamy fava beans and the first of the season’s fresh onions, options are limitless and plates all around town will soon be littered with brilliant shades of green. But just as important as what we’re putting on your plates is the manner and style in which we chefs are preparing your dishes. A beautifully braised short rib, fork-tender and chock-full of lip-smacking gelatin, may be perfect for a chilly winter’s evening but it would feel woefully out of place and excessively rich on a spring menu. Springtime dishes should be clean and light, flavorful without weighing you down.

So think more along the lines of fish dishes, more composed salads and more fruit-based desserts across the board for the whole city. Among my favorites of the early spring rotation is the rhubarb. So elusive and distinct, so unabashedly tart and invigorating, the emergence of these red bodied celery doppelgängers truly marks the transition from last year’s residual crop towards the very first harvests of the new year. At Madison, I’ve been working on adding an olive oil-poached tilefish dish with a nice earthy base of Yunnan mushrooms, all topped off with some pickled rhubarb–it’ll be simultaneously slightly crunchy, sweet and tangy.

Brad Turley of Goga has told me he’s designing a spring dish around Goan spices, cured kampachi and pappadums, those delightfully thin and crispy lentil wafers. I am not ashamed to say I drooled a little bit while tasting the dish in my head. Lots of flavor, barely cooked fish, textural contrast ... what more can you ask for? (And, yes, I taste food in my head.)

Salad lover Marc Johnson over at Fulton Place, tells me he’s looking forward to some of those beautiful baby turnips that are popping up. I couldn’t agree more. Baby turnips rock my world, even more so when they’re glazed and paired withsome gorgeous spring lamb loin and belly, carrots and nasturtium. Flavorful and clean, satisfying without weighing you down, gorgeous colors: it’s easy to see the trend here.

So break out the flip-flops, the short-shorts and the muscle tees. Springtime is upon us. Take a stroll to your favorite neighborhood restaurant and see what they have on offer–there are lots of good eats just around the corner and now is the best time to start trying them out.

Image by sophiemostly

When Austin Hu isn't busy writing City Weekend's The Dish blog, he runs things over at Madison. Check out more of his articles here.