Lox and bagels with cream cheese? Yogurt parfait layered with fruit and granola? Breakfast choices abound at Miami Beach's Taste Bakery Café. Lunch brings more decisions, including breads and fillings for create-your-own sandwiches, and coffee-breakers can choose from muffins, cookies, cupcakes and brownies, some low-carb and sugar-free.

Owner Victor Patel was born in Kenya, where his grandfather emigrated from Gujarat State in western India to build railroads. Patel is a common Indian name because the British Raj gave it to the large farmer class. Patels are found in diverse businesses today, including hospitality.

At 13, Victor's parents relocated to India and sent him to London to continue his studies. He became passionate about baking in culinary classes at Kingsbury High School, where he met his wife, Hima. He went on to the London School of Economics and became a charter accountant (similar to a CPA), eventually buying a bakery that he and his wife ran.

The couple immigrated to Atlanta in 1996 for warmer weather, and owned several cafés and a bakery there. The prospect of even better weather and a health-conscious clientele lured them to South Beach, where they opened their first Taste Bakery Café on Alton Road in 2001, expanding to Jefferson Avenue three months ago.

Gym rats come to both sites after workouts for the high-protein egg white scrambles. The Healthy Heart is wrapped in a grilled whole wheat tortilla with peppers, tomatoes, feta and salsa. Only The Fittest adds citrus-herb chicken, spinach, roasted peppers and mozzarella melted on a low-carb wheat tortilla.

Artisan sourdough, ciabatta and marble-swirl rye are just some of the bread choices at lunch. Try the pesto panini, roast beef with Gouda, roasted veggies with hummus or design your own. Salads are huge. The Thai chicken combines romaine and rice noodles with tangy peanut dressing on the side.

The best combo here may be a moist caramel cupcake capped with a swirl of frosting sprinkled with coconut shreds enjoyed with a green tea-ginseng soy milk smoothie topped with whipped cream. Shhhh! You only live once.

Linda Bladholm's latest book is Latin and Caribbean Grocery Stores Demystified.

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