The Down Low: It’s easy to scoff at raw food. I mean, really easy. The whole reason fire was invented was to get food hot, and camping’s not nearly as much fun with uncooked hotdogs. Yet there is a mystique to the claims that raw food retains vital nutrients and promotes good health. And you’ve gotta be curious how a place like Café 118 at 153 East Morse Blvd. in Winter Park can make a lasagna without animal products or heating the ingredients past 118 degrees (the magic number which gives the place its name).
The Dish: Starting off with a juice is a pretty good idea, particularly with the interesting combination of beet and green apple staring at you for $5. Deeply pink and swirling with the foggy bits of fresh ingredients, the very tart apples enhance the otherwise vegetabley taste of the beet. It’s by no means a miraculous combination of food, but it is refreshing and a superiorly tasty alternative to V-8.
The beet ravioli kept my beet craze rolling for $14. The unique and admirable thing about the entrees at Café 118 is that while they bear familiar names like burrito and lasagna, what you end up with on your plate isn’t so much an imitation as it is an artistic interpretation. But that makes it sound snootier than it needs to be. The beets were somehow formed into Fruit Roll-Up kind of squares and then filled with a “ricotta” made from macadamia nuts and drizzled with a pear wine sauce. That alone earned the $14 price tag its keep. The dish also came with a side of arugula sprinkled in olive oil. The beet “pasta” was slightly tough and chewy, but lent a light sweetness to the surprisingly creamy and rich macadamia filling. If you’re looking for more sweetness be sure to dig into the pear sauce, which is a little overpowering, but mixes up the flavors nicely. It tasted nothing like ravioli, but that’s not really the point – it was its own unique dish, and with four raviolis it’s surprisingly filling. Yes, the arugula was good too, but hey – it’s arugula. There’s not a lot of kitchen magic happening there.
Among the different tarts and parfaits, the mango cheesecake ($7) stood out as one of the more challenging. In fact, most of my choosing centered around me wondering things like “how do they make cheesecake without animal products?” It came to my table partially frozen, which made some sense as the cheesecake was so light it seemed like it may disintegrate. Yet the flavors were anything but light, with the tart and sweet mango combining with the chewy crust made from coconut shavings was chewy to give the dessert a pleasant tropical flavor. But beware that it is surprisingly rich so sharing with someone else might be a good idea.
The Digs: To enhance the organic feel of the place, there’s very little metal furniture used inside Café 118. Well, the patio chairs outside are metal, but that’s a fair trade-off to sit in the sun. Inside the tables are marble-topped and the chairs solid dark wood, enhancing the almost art gallery atmosphere. Taking up space on the walls is kinda-crummy art for kinda-outrageous prices, but it does lend an air of classiness that’s only enhanced by the food itself.
The Vibe: While it might be unfair to say that raw food is trendy, the vibe at Café 118 surely is, but it’s exactly the kind of mood needed to get people excited and quickly lose their “Ew, it’s raw” attitude.
The Damage: The sad truth of modern living is that if you want to eat healthy you’re gonna have to pay for it. A full course of juice, entrée, and dessert came in at just under $30, which makes Café 118 more a place to enjoy as a treat than a regular lunch spot.
The Bottom Line: Though you’re going to pay a little more than usual for lunch, Café 118 has menu items you won’t find elsewhere in Orlando, and enjoying raw couture isn’t a bad thing to feel good about.
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