Eating at Get Real reminds me of Michael Pollan's maxim : Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. I think that this is good advice and that Get Real does a bang on job helping me take it.

I come to Get Real Cafe on a sunny afternoon, bringing a vegetarian friend for company. (This reminds me of nervous P.C . assertions from the 90s. Well, no I'm not a vegetarian, but my neighbour is ). But seriously, I eat meat, but not too much. My friend eats none. We get along just fine.

I order the daily special, a potato frittata that surprises with soft slices of thick potato and sweet potato, blue cheese and sharp cheddar, all snuggled in a soft pillow of fluffy egg. Generously graced with fresh dill and dill seed, this dish combines several of my favourite flavours in a novel take on an old classic. I love it!

My friend orders miso soup and two salads: beet and chickpea. The soup is a veggie-laden riff on the standard miso, colourful and highly textured with celery roots and leaves, carrot and seaweed shreds. Thin noodles add substance but not too much starch, and a fine balance of miso paste allows earthy mushroom undertones to enchant.

Both beet and chickpea salads are laced with a pungent vinaigrette that is a little too strong for my taste, but as my friend cheerfully asserts, "I've had many a bland chickpea salad, and this is not one of them!" She loves the dressing, and quite literally eats it up.

The key ingredient at Get Real? Freshness. Made-to-order, each dish at Get Real is a timely reminder that healthful eating can be delightful. Add a smiling server and a sunny dining room filled with vivid abstract paintings, and I'm ready to amend Pollard's maxim: Eat--at Get Real. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Lunch for two: $26 including tax and tip.