Here are the best spring dishes — fresh, fab, foraged — to try at North Jersey restaurants
When the cherry blossoms pop and the days grow longer and warmer, North Jersey's chefs know that it triggers a yearning for fresh new flavors. It is also why our culinary artisans say that it's ramps (wild garlicky onions) —and mushrooms and fiddlehead ferns and spring peas as well as soft shell crabs and baby lamb — and not robins that are spring's true harbingers. They are among the fresh, seasonal ingredients that make eating out this time of year such a treat.
Just-picked mushrooms, bright green arugula, dainty asparagus, aromatic mint and bright red beets are now adding bursts of spring colors and flavors to the tables at green markets — and in dishes at many seasonal restaurants — replacing winter's often dreary dependence on root vegetables. Fresh, just-harvested fruits and vegetables are more in sync with a season where the clothes we wear match the foods we eat — lighter, more colorful, more fun.
Ramping up for spring
Chefs like Vesta Wood-Fired's Christine Nunn are already reporting they are reaping what their foragers have scoured from the reawakened countryside to invigorate their menus. Nunn most recently created a dish of ramp pesto with burrata for her East Rutherford establishment's patrons.
Antonio De Ieso of Fiorentini, an upscale Italian restaurant in Rutherford, says that the advent of ramps and other spring ingredients signals it's time to steer away from root vegetables and braised meats.
"Come spring, veggies are the stars of the table," De Ieso said.
The return of fresh peas and mushrooms means, he said, "we can once again balance the flavor of our dishes with vegetables." Some of the new spring dishes on his menu: gnudi — light as air pan-fried ricotta and egg dumplings served with roasted mushrooms and green garlic butter, as well as homemade pappardelle currently laced with a ragu of mushrooms.
Fiddlehead ferns
Saddle River Inn's Jamie Knott is a big fan of fiddleheads. He has recently introduced a dish he named "snails in the garden," which features fiddleheads and escargots and also includes fresh asparagus and spring peas as well as pesto made with ramps.
Spring also adds an emphasis on lamb (after all, lamb is probably the dish most often served at the Easter table), like Knott's Colorado lamb chops enveloped in a garlic-mustard crust.
Spring's beautiful swimmers
In the next few weeks, softshell crabs will come into season too. Until they do, fish like swordfish, Knott added, become more plentiful, as do local monkfish, striped bass and mahi.
De Ieso said one of the stars of his springtime menu is colossal crab marinated in fresh tarragon, tarragon oil, candied lemons and festooned with fresh peas over fagottino, a pouchlike pasta braised in a bisque of lobster and crab.
Nunn said she recently had walleye pike, a fish that is in season in early spring, on her menu, with English peas, toasted farro risotto with a pea tendril salad and candied lemon vinaigrette.
"I think most chefs are always itching to get their hands on the next seasonal flavors," she said. "By mid May, I can't wait to get my hands on first-of-the-season summer squashes." Come June, she added, "I'm itching for a Jersey tomato and corn. There is always something exciting ahead."
New spring dishes at local restaurants
South + Pine, Morristown. Leave it to chef and owner Leia Gaccione to offer New Jersey scallops atop spring onion farro with a ramp gremolata at her recently refurbished cozy spot. 90 South St., Morristown; 862-260-9700, Southandpine.com.
The Farmer’s Daughter, Newton. Cooking with fresh ingredients is the credo of this light-filled seasonal restaurant decorated with family heirlooms and local artifacts. New to the spring menu: asparagus ribbon salad, shaved asparagus bathed in a grainy mustard vinaigrette and topped with shaved locatelli cheese.161-165 Spring St.;, Newton; 973-383-0440,.thefarmersdaughternj.com.
90 Acres at Natirar, Peapack-Gladsone. 90 Acres has a 12-acre farm, so you can count on its produce to be super-fresh. Although it is currently closed — it opens on Mother's Day weekend — its menu is chockful of springtime ingredients. In fact on its Mother's Day menu, there's hamachi served with pickled ramps, baby beets and beet tuile; a pizette with spring vegetables; and avocado toast with one of spring's other little treasures, farm radish. 200 Natirar Drive, Peapack-Gladstone; 908-901-9500, natirar.com.
Pluckemin Inn, Bedminster. This delightful country inn "is committed to fresh, local, seasonal ingredients," it says on its website. So it should come as no surprise that it adds ramps to its main dish of Columbia River sturgeon that is served with crushed potatoes. 10 Pluckemin Way, Bedminster; 908-658-9292, pluckemininn.com.
The Frog and the Peach, New Brunswick. This award-winning, elegant restaurant, founded in 1983, offers a special five-course, prix-fixe spring dinner paired with sparkling wines for $95/person. Some of what's on the menu: local burrata with grilled white asparagus and ramps as well as rocket salad with basil aioli. But if you'd rather order a la carte, consider the dayboat New Jersey sea scallops with fiddlehead ferns and oyster mushrooms. 29 Dennis St., New Brunswick; 732-846-3216, frogandpeach.com.
Felina, Ridgewood. Joe Tartamella, the former chef at Allegory in Montclair, where he planted a herb and vegetable garden, clearly loves fresh produce. Now at Felina, he is offering a spring pan-seared scallops dish that showcases spring peas in the risotto that sits under those sweet mollusks. 18 Prospect St., Ridgewood; 551-276-5454, felinarestaurant.com.
Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen, Morristown. Had your fill of beet and goat cheese salad? Try Jockey Hollow's Black Soil beets served with a heady goat cheese mousse and sprinkled with crushed almonds. It's sublime. 110 South St.; Morristown; 973-644-3180, jockeyhollowbarandkitchen.com.
Serenade, Chatham. Chef James Laird is known for his delicious rich yet creamless soups. Come springtime, you'd be wise to get a bowl of his sweet pea soup garnished with fresh mint, tomato confit and morels. 6 Roosevelt Ave. Chatham; 973-701-0303, restaurantserenade.com.
1776 by David Burke, Morristown. Celebrated chef David Burke, who has a slew of restaurants in New Jersey (Red Horse in Rumson; The Fox & Falcon in South Orange; Orchard Park in East Brunswick; and Ventanas in Fort Lee, among others) has put on his spring menu a spring vegetable pizza, dressed with spinach, asparagus, spring onions and pea shoots and stracciatella as well as telaggio. 67 East Park Place, Morristown; 973-829-1771, 1776cbvdb.com.
Agricola, Morristown. Like halibut? Consider local line-caught halibut accompanied by roasted spring onions, morel mushrooms and ramp chimichurri. 40 West Place, Morristown; 973-332-9200, agricolaeatery.com.
Common Lot, Millburn. Chef Ehren Ryan has traveled the world and brought back what he's learned to his charming intimate spot in Millburn. For spring, the chef is offering a spring salad vegetable made up of bibb lettuce, grilled asparagus, peas, sunflower seeds, sunflower herb, micro beets served with a ramp emulsion — blended ramps, oil, egg yolk. and seared wolf fish, sautéed spinach and ramps, pickled ramps, morels and morel cream sauce. 27 Main St., Millburn; 973-467-0494, commonlot.com.
Faubourg, Montclair. Feel like French tonight? Head on over to Faubourg and treat yourself to spring-fresh ricotta agnolotti stuffed with morels and spring peas. 544 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair; 973-542-7700, faubourgmontclair.com.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ restaurants: Best spring menus to try in North Jersey
