Yes, they wear clothes at the Naked Café, although the lusciously healthful food sometimes doesn’t.

After receiving several recommendations from those who visited the café’s busy Solana Beach location, I twice checked out the newest branch, which is tucked into a strip plaza on Rosecrans Avenue, only to come away with a new appreciation for whole wheat this and brown rice that.

Had the Naked Café been around just 20 years ago, it likely would have served as a funky haunt for bohemian mouths preaching about the hazards of greasy-spoon diner slop. But to set the record straight, owner Gabriel Wheeler emphasizes that his food “isn’t totally organic,” nor is he targeting the “extreme healthy-eating fanatics” of the land. Surely my dining companions and I wouldn’t have walked away so contented if that were the case. Wheeler instead terms the fare very appropriately as “alternative whole food.”

Arriving first for a solo breakfast of Roasted Beef Hash served alongside excellent herbed potatoes and scrambled eggs striking a quasi-omelet pose, I was delighted at the lack of sodium in everything. With salt being used so profusely in most kitchens these days, and often layered into every step of a recipe, I fell into a rare moment sprinkling the plate with a pinch of it on my own. And that’s exactly the point here – you get to taste food in its purest form before self-seasoning it.

In addition, the “hash” wasn’t the usual jumble of potatoes interspersed with fried minced meat, but rather a piling of lightly marinated, cubed filet mignon that reveled from the few shakes of black pepper I gave it. The accompanying horseradish cream sauce, however, was overly mild for my taste. Though a hearty and filling dish this was, I didn’t come away feeling nappy or weighed down – even after wolfing down a wide and airy Fuzzy Monkey hotcake topped with toasted oats and fresh bananas. As for the pancake syrup, it’s a Canadian brand made with 25 percent real maple extract. Or for $1.50 more, you can upgrade to 100 percent.

With three companions in tow on my second visit, we attacked the menu with wild abandon. Among the standouts were the Firecracker Omelet, spiked generously with green chilies that offered an amiable blast of heat, plus tomatoes, onion and a hint of cheese. Delicately flavored black beans and bright, par-cooked veggies rounded out the plate.

“I like the fact that all these vegetables come with everything,” said one of my companions as she dove into a high-protein breakfast of burritos filled with tasty soy chorizo and tofu, which she substituted for eggs.

We spooned communally from a deep bowl of Lemon Grass Soup, intensified with ginger and thickened with pureed broccoli and “whatever vegetables are hanging around the kitchen,” we were told. The end result was terrific and the soup resembled the exotic quality of Indian dhal.

With my internal clock teetering on the lunch hour, I sprung for Sesame-Ginger Soft Tacos – two wheat tortillas curled loosely around seared medallions of softly spiced chicken breast, red and green lettuces and a faint measure of Thai peanut sauce. They were quintessentially wholesome, yet decadently palate-pleasing. With the tacos came a cone-shaped mold of what I assumed would be boring brown rice. The grains, however, sported a creamy veneer and an addicting sweetness that I’m guessing was achieved with a touch of coconut milk.

Delicious peripherals filled our table, including a fluffy golden brown “pancake in the buff,” served with a squiggle of blackberry puree. A vegetarian in our group gave his approval to a side of soy sausage, commenting on its appreciable fennel flavor. Another sipped gleefully on an iced green tea drink called Praying Mantis, which invigorated the taste buds with a springy sour edge from the addition of apple juice.

The café’s entire menu is downright cool and worth exploring. There are items like Spuds in Lingerie (potatoes with jalapenos, onions and tomatoes, topped with black beans, avocado and cheese), a Pesto-Artichoke Quesadilla, Coconut French Toast, bewitching tea and coffee drinks and fruity mimosas.

Like the food, the atmosphere is hip and earthy. Bamboo wainscoting hugs the walls, which are finished off in cucumber green as the backdrop for color-enhanced photographs of oceans, beaches and jungles. Shiny, lightweight metal chairs add a modern sheen. And the staff is friendly in the most natural sense, meaning their pleasantries match their efficiency.

If you’re heading to the café’s Solana Beach location on weekends, be prepared to wait for a table. Culinary nakedness has caught on well up there. Yet at the new kitchen in Loma Portal (an area known otherwise as Fast Food Oz), the clamor is still practically nonexistent, giving you a fast and easy ticket to begin the cleansing process from last month’s shameless holiday eating.