More restaurants are serving up Castroville’s – and California’s – crowning crop.

You pluck and scrape for a few edible slivers. Meanwhile a mound of fibrous leaves spills from the cast-off plate. Credit the farmers of Castroville: Almost all of America’s artichokes come from California, nearly two-thirds from Castroville.

This weekend, the two-day Castroville Artichoke Food & Wine Festival, celebrating the official state vegetable, returns to the Monterey Fairgrounds. There are also a restaurants that cook up Castroville’s finest on their daily dinner menus.

Fortunately, most do all of the nitpicking, so you can just sit back and enjoy.

Fried artichoke hearts have become a staple snack on local bar menus. Montrio Bistro has a sophisticated take on these bar bites: The heart is fried in circular cross-sections instead of split segments, then served atop baba ghanoush, ratatouille, and arugula ($14). Think of it as Central Coast meets the Middle East.

Creamy artichoke dip also features on a number of menus. Skip the corporate chains with pre-made packaged dips. At Schooners Coastal Kitchen and Bar, the dip arrives in a cast-iron skillet with chopped Castroville ’chokes in ricotta cheese with naan bread ($12). Add Dungeness crab ($6), served as freshly shelled lump meat on top.

The artichoke didn’t arrive in Castroville until 1922. But it has a storied history in the Mediterranean, where patient diners first sorted out its culinary possibilities. Pacific Grove’sjeninni kitchen + wine bar gives a nod to the region’s flavors in their hearty artichoke bisque, which arrives in a ceramic tureen topped with tangy goat cheese and dried Aleppo chili peppers ($12, $9 during happy hour, 4-6pm Thurs-Tues). Artichokes are notoriously tough pairings with wine, but an expert pick of a dry Austrian Grüner Veltliner tames this tricky thistle.

Pasta is a popular preparation for artichokes, too. Many restaurants, Italian and Italian-leaning, often have artichoke pastas on the menu, whether it’s artichoke ravioli in a truffle cream sauce at Seaside’s Gusto or housemade fettuccine with spinach, mushrooms, and Castroville artichokes at Salinas’ Patria.

But more intriguing Italian interpretations of artichoke grace the menu at La Balena (when available; the menu changes daily). Time it right and you’ll find the carciofi salad with fresh violetti artichokes, along with snap peas, shaved fennel and cherry tomatoes ($13). Risottoprimavera features English peas, violetti artichokes, baby basil and Agrumato lemon olive oil ($25).

Both of Balena’s dishes use a smaller Sicilian variety with more purple hues than their Castroville cousins. These come from Watsonville’s Mariquita Farm and were originally cultivated exclusively for Berkeley’s famed Chez Panisse restaurant. The leaves of the violetti are more supple and less stringy, even edible raw.

Less work, more reward.

MONTRIO BISTRO 414 Calle Principal, Monterey. 648-8880, montrio.com.

SCHOONERS COASTAL KITCHEN AND BAR 400 Cannery Row, Monterey. 372-2638, schoonersmonterey.com.

JENINNI KITCHEN + WINE BAR 542 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. 920-2662, jeninni.com.

LA BALENA Junipero between Fifth and Sixth, Carmel. 250-6295, labalenacarmel.com.