At Roswell cafe, lunch proves a success; dinner a puzzle

Service: very friendly, but very slow with long disappearances

Best dishes: sweet potato soup, gluten-free pizza

Vegetarian selections: lots of options here

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Price range:$$-$$$

Credit cards: all major credit cards

Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays

Children: fine

Parking: shared lot, valet at dinner

Reservations: yes, definitely call ahead for gazebo seating

Wheelchair access: yes

Smoking: no

Noise level: moderate

Patio: beautiful outdoor patio and bar

Takeout: yes

Address, phone: 1055 Canton St., Roswell. 770-518-7586.

Website: www.plumcafe.net

MORE OPTIONS FOR THIS TYPE OF CUISINE

GWINNETT

Bleu House Cafe

This quirky bright blue house in Norcross serves homestyle salads, sandwiches, soups and wraps. Owner Maureen Adams said, "We started small. Out front, we talked to people to find out their favorites." The menu of this homey restaurant is now a compilation of customer requests and favorites accumulated over time. Try the smokehouse wrap piled with thick slices of grilled chicken with a sweet and tangy homemade barbecue sauce. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. 23 Holcomb Bridge Road, Norcross. 770-209-0016, www.bleuhousecafe.com. $.

FULTON

Cafe Jonah

At Cafe Jonah, Jenny Levinson welcomes you into a converted 1960s home for "fresh food, coffee and inspiration." The ever-changing lunch spread also includes an array of sandwiches, each with layers of cleverly paired ingredients. On the weekends, the foyer becomes a modest bakery, the center table laden with pastries such as bagels, blueberry scones, and scrumptious sweet potato biscuits topped with Brie, strawberries and lavender jam. At Cafe Jonah, you'll appreciate the hospitality, the care with which ingredients were selected and the ways in which they were combined. 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays. 3188 Paces Ferry Place, Atlanta. 404-343-4107, www.cafejonah.com. $-$$.

FULTON

Wildflour

Wildflour originally opened in Roswell in 2007. A poor location left this restaurant without visibility or traffic, causing owner Michael Fields to uproot and relocate it to Alpharetta in a strip mall off Windward Parkway. Wildflour now gets plenty of traffic, packing this lunch-only spot each weekday. You'll have to brave the line to order items like the Prodeep, made with a coconut curry chicken. Fields bakes fresh whole-wheat rolls each day for the sandwiches. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. 5815 Windward Parkway, Alpharetta. 678-822-9453, www.wildflouratlanta.com. $.

A vegetarian, a vegan and a gluten-free diner walk into a restaurant. All are happy. Where did they go?

That may sound like one of those vexing word problems your 9-year-old puzzles over at homework time. Yet, this problem may be too complex for a 9-year old. There are few places that successfully accommodate all three of these dietary needs.

Roswell is home to one that does. Plum Cafe, located just off Canton Street, prides itself on providing options for guests with dietary restrictions and for those who have a particular interest in tracing the origins of ingredients used. Plum Cafe’s owner, Monica Bolsoni, commits to quality sourcing and boasts that nearly 75 percent of products used are organic. She uses only line- and pole-caught tuna. She draws from her South American roots, using gluten-free yucca root flour in recipes.

Plum Cafe’s concept works best at lunch, when its healthy focus and laid-back service are most appreciated by the ladies-who-lunch set. Vegan and gluten-free soups fly out of the kitchen, as do salad plates containing fluffy mounds of chicken, tuna and quinoa-beet salads. At lunch, meals are satisfying while light and low-guilt.

Yet as dinner dawns, the restaurant attracts a different crowd, drawing from the Canton Street foot traffic seeking a beautiful patio. Here, Plum Cafe attempts a Cinderella-esque transformation to a full-service restaurant, with a serviceable beer and wine list and heartier entrees. Unfortunately, it lacks the Disney magic necessary to successfully pull it off.

Plum Cafe’s gorgeous patio, outdoor bar and garden gazebo entice diners both day and night. It’s the perfect setting for the tres ($12), a tea-room-style salad plate adorned with vibrant purple orchid blooms. This trio sampler of shredded chicken and mayonnaise-y tuna salads with a sweet and fluffy carrot-quinoa-beet-balsamic salad has become the restaurant’s signature lunch dish.

The cafe also has become known for its selection of daily soups ($5.95 cup), which often include vegan and gluten-free options. I particularly enjoyed the texture of the warm sweet potato soup, which was creamy but retained a touch of chew.

The soup-half-sandwich option ($11.95) is popular here. I took my sweet potato soup with the vegetarian roasted pepper and kumato tomato panini. This gooey sammie ($10.95 whole) with soft peppers, a swipe of artichoke spread and strings of mozzarella and provolone cheeses comes on inverted focaccia bread, flipped to achieve a flat and crusty surface.

Plum Cafe also has introduced a menu of gluten-free pizzas, served at both lunch and dinner, but you’ll have to build in an extra 10 to 15 minutes to cook the thin and crispy crust. Try the chicken and hearts of palm pizza ($15 full, $8 half), which is surprisingly decadent from the clots of cream cheese melted into the tomato sauce.

The wait for the pizza may pass quickly if you’re out for a casual lunch with friends, but you’ll have to add that cooking time to the painfully slow service. Timing can become problematic if you don’t have an afternoon to devote to the meal.

The same issue applies to dinner, where the flow of appetizer to entree seems to elude the staff. Thank goodness for the beautiful fall weather, the gorgeous patio and the live music across the street.

As the menu shifts to dinner, options get a little more interesting than the salad-sandwich fare of the noon meal. You’ll find appetizers like cabbage and grape leaves ($14) stuffed with tiny bits of beef mixed with rice. The neatly rolled leaves need a dip in the lemony tomato sauce on the side. You also can get your comfort food on with the spicy and incredibly oily crab-pimento dip ($11). Nasty good.

And that’s where I’d stop at dinner. Hang on the patio and enjoy the setting with a bottle of Truchard cabernet ($59), a couple of appetizers and maybe a pizza.

If you wander into entree land, you’ll encounter items like the pork with prunes and pear ($19) with pellets of dried, fruity meat in a saucy mustard bath. Or maybe it will be the beef dish ($18) with curled strips of beef in a watery polenta. This is where we need a sprinkling of that fairy dust.

Plum Cafe has a successful lunch strategy feeding the masses, including those with special dietary needs. Yet, the dinner transformation is something of a puzzle — one that Plum Cafe will have to solve.