Locavores around Philadelphia have been waiting for this moment: Finally, fresh seasonal produce has arrived. Now is the time to enjoy fiddlehead ferns, green garlic, fresh peas, softshell crabs, strawberries and rhubarb. Four dishes you have to try before these fleeting spring delicacies disappear for another year:

At Marigold Kitchen, chef Erin O’Shea combines fiddlehead ferns with potatoes and a hearty hanger steak.

At Farmicia, chef Kevin Klause is dressing his gnocchi with an ultra springy sauce of green garlic, peas and mint.

At Gayle, chef Daniel Stern is paying his annual homage to soft shell crabs, served with asparagus, another springtime treat.

At White Dog Café, indulge in chef Andy Brown’s sweet-tart strawberry-rhubarb pie.

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Milk, for most people, just is. The only question beyond “Got Milk?” is “Whole or skim?” But as a recent Harrisburg debate proved, there’s nothing basic about the kitchen staple. There are dozens of shades of white: unpasteurized, pasteurized or ultrapasteurized? Grade A or Grade AA? Organic or conventional? From corn-fed cows or grass-fed cows? Produced using additional bovine growth hormone or without?

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Photo by Jason Varney

There’s something a little unusual on the shelves at the Fair Food Farmstand today: heirloom tomatoes. Tomatoes! In January! Grown in soil in the Gap, PA, greenhouses of Green Meadow Farm — the same farm that gives us the rich raspberry of John and Kira’s chocolates — the small yellow and red fruits may not have the vibrancy of August, but they are certainly an enticing alternative to the grown-for-shelf-life varieties from Florida. And their color is irresistible amid the mushroom browns and kale greens more typical of winter in Pennsylvania.

Photo, Buff Strickland

There’s something undeniably romantic about stone-ground flour. The words conjure up images of farmers delivering their wheat in horse-drawn wagons, of 3,200-pound granite millstones turning to the rhythm of a waterwheel, of fresh-baked breads and cakes. The 260-year-old Mill at Anselma, with its intricate wooden gear system and picturesque Chester County setting, fulfills that longing for the pastoral.

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Photograph by Jason Varney

If you’ve had dinner at my house in the past couple of weeks, you’ve eaten roast chicken. It’s the perfect easy meal amid the holiday rush, and I’m on a quest to perfect this simple dish, with the help of Judy Rodgers and Thomas Keller — okay, okay, with the help of Rodger’s Zuni Café Cookbook and Keller’s Bouchon.

And these recipes — and Griggstown Quail Farm’s chickens — are producing delicious crispy skinned birds. Now, if only I could justify buying one of the Staub cast-iron pans Nineteen chef Marc Plessis uses to roast and present his infinitely more-elegant roasted bluefoot chickens. The pan holds the bird, which has already been brined for 24 hours, upright while it is steamed and then roasted at a high heat. Plessis surrounds the bird with substantial roasted carrots, onions, brussels sprouts and bluefoot mushrooms. Sounds like I’ve got another method to try.

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While wandering the new Marketplace at East Falls, a “work in progress” Ardmore Farmers Market imitator that recently opened on Ridge Avenue, I stumbled upon Pappardelle’s. The Denver-based artisanal pasta shop wasn’t even completely unpacked yet, but I couldn’t resist the long loops of dried pasta in vibrant colors and flavors displayed in wooden crates.

Hearty four-peppercorn fettuccine, with its lingering citrus flavors, will be a staple in my pantry, but I’m not so sure about the dark chocolate linguine. I had to buy the deep-brown pasta, and I’ve nibbled a piece of it dry — definitely, surprisingly, chocolate — but I don’t know what to do with it yet.

The clerk behind the counter suggested some whipped cream and graham cracker concoctions, but I’m craving a more savory preparation. Perhaps a rich duck ragu with orange zest, a twist on James’ duck tagliatelle with grated chocolate. Or a combination of venison and quince, a la Vetri … I’m taking all suggestions.

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It isn’t the coffee that’s hot in Philly right now; it’s the coffee shop. In South Jersey strip malls and still-quiet corners of the city’s up-and-coming neighborhoods, dozens of new independently owned cafes are serving up caffeine and community — a brave business plan in a region with more than 125 Starbucks, 300-plus Dunkin’ Donuts, and a Wawa on every corner.

So where to grab a cuppa? Find our 65 top picks here.

Photo, Jason Varney

My friends will all agree that I am a cheapskate, so my lunches tend to be $2.50 vegetable fried rice from the cart or $3.50 half falafel sandwiches from Mama’s. But recently, I had to splurge on a lovely char-grilled rib eye — medium rare, of course — served with crispy shoestring fries, and a mixed green salad at Chris’ Jazz Café, our 2007 Best of Philly Jazz Club.

The cost? Just ten bucks on Fridays. If you’re keeping score, this is less than you’ll pay for a cold sandwich and small fountain soda at Marathon, making this one of the best lunch deals in the city. Of course, the rib-eye would have best been accompanied by a glass of pinot, but like I said, I’m cheap, so I opted for the 50-cent draft beer.

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This Thanksgiving, local food-aid organization MANNA will Strike It Rich. That’s the name of this decadent pie, its tender crust filled with cheesecake and topped with candied pecans, caramel and chocolate. The pie is one of five varieties available through Pie in the Sky, the nutritional assistance group’s biggest annual fund-raiser. (Proceeds provide MANNA’s ailing clients with holiday meals.)

Read the full story here.

Photo by Jason Varney

The simple, often overlooked — and often overcooked — egg is taking center stage at dinner. No longer hidden in thick hollandaise or chopped to oblivion in salads, the lowly egg is more likely to be gently cooked and delicately draped on unexpected ingredients. At Savona in Gulph Mills, a sunny-side-up quail egg canoodles with veal sweetbreads; a poached version engulfs beets and greens in Striped Bass’s toasted ricotta salad; and barely-cooked ribbons of yolk coat soba noodles and scallops at Morimoto.

Read the full article here.

Photograph by Jason Varney