Last week my folks and I went to the Orlando Public Library as a play day for the four of us and Nora. There's a great little coffee shop and cafe in the library run by a couple who are vegetarians and wanted to start a vegetarian restaurant. However, they didn't want to leave out meat-eaters; so for an unusual twist, the vegetarian items can be made with meat as opposed to most restaurants that automatically think meat unless you say otherwise. The owner and his wife were very kind and patient with our slow decision making and called their patrons by name. Even having not tasted the food, I would have returned just because of the customer service.

But then the food came and there was no question we would return. My dad had a vegetarian ruben sandwich with sauerkraut, which wasn't overly strong. The vegetarian meat substitute was a thin slice of "turkey." It didn't taste like it had as much sodium as the veggie turkey I buy. My pesto quesadilla had the same turkey on lightly flavored pesto with real mozzarella, chopped lettuce, tomato, and onion on top. The dressing was a very good balsamic. My grandmother enjoyed the special of the day, a cream of potato soup and grilled cheese. FYI, grilled means grilled. The bread was just this side of burned. It was great! Another FYI, the three soups available were all vegetarian--cream of potato, cream of broccoli, and chili.

And last in the circle was the arrival of my mother's rice bowl. She thought she could handle the one they warned would be hot. She couldn't. I couldn't. But my dad was all over it. A great variety of fresh vegetables were piled over white rice. A HOT red bell pepper sauce homemade by the owner's wife covered the veggies and a marinated, shredded beet sat on top. At first I frowned at the white rice thinking brown would be so much healthier. But after about choking on the water to try to wash the heat out, I understood why the white rice was more practical. White offsets the heat better than brown.

The owners have separated the to-go menus in to vegetarian and non with additional marks by vegan dishes. I also liked the casual decoration of burlap coffee bags hanging around the perimeter of the room.

There are three locations for Z-Cafe. I suspect we'll be visiting the one in Florida Hospital Apopka most often just because we don't make it downtown to the library very often. But it would be more fun to go where the owners are. We might have to make a special trip.

We didn't try any drinks for which I'm sorry. I still wish I knew what the pistachio caramel milkshake tasted like. Next time, I guess.