After a winter of roots, spring is in the air and on the menu at Toronto restaurants.

At quietly elegant Grace, at 503 College St., new chef Kevin Castonguay has filled his dishes with spring favourites.

A parade of peas surrounds the olive oil-poached striped sea bass, from pea tendrils to bright green pea foam. Morels pop up beside a dark green sheet of pasta made of stinging nettles, fiddleheads play in a rabbit dish and hen of the woods mushrooms make several guest appearances.

Around here, Sandro the great mushroom hunter can’t wait to find his first morel. He usually doesn’t check his secret spots until the third week of April, but this year all bets are off. Stay tuned!