A friend’s jaw almost dropped when she walked into Sunflower Cafe and saw a whole tray of gluten-free desserts at the counter. There were big cookies, dark, moist chocolate cake, and buttery scones, no longer marginalized, but finally in the wheat-free spotlight.

“There they were, right on the top shelf,” she said. “It just blew me away.”

Sunflower is a new venture by the folks who brought you Montague’s Coffee House. The two restaurants are day and night. While the dark Victorian wing chairs and cozy fireplace at Montague’s feel like a good place to curl up with a cup of hot tea and a good mystery, Sunflower’s bright, open space and soothing spring-mint walls make it feel like the ideal meet-up where the yoga set can catch up over iced acai tea.

Everything in the restaurant caters to the emerging green aesthetic. There are whole-wheat desserts and chairs made out of sustainable woven banana leaves. The cups, plates, forks and spoons are all made from plants, and so, instead of one trash can, there are two: one for recycling bottles and cans, and one for everything else, which is then composted.

I’m not sure if composting paper plates and corn-starch forks is any greener than just washing real plates and forks, but the tiny kitchen of Sunflower doesn’t have a dishwasher, so it’s a moot point.

The limited cooking space still manages to crank out what is probably the most extensive wheat-free menu in town. The pastries are cooked at Montague’s. The bread comes from local bakery Outside the Breadbox. There are also espresso drinks and tea.

Lunch is a smattering of good salads, soups and build-your own sandwiches ($9).

“It’s so nice to be able to order a real sandwich,” my friend with the wheat intolerance said as she sat down to a turkey, tomato and pesto sandwich on oat bread. “I usually end up just ordering the insides of sandwiches on a plate.”

If you tolerate wheat just fine, Sunflower also has plenty of traditional bread, which is good, because gluten is yummy, and even the best gluten-free breads to me still taste a bit like dust.

Sandwiches, such as the grilled chicken topped with a lovely sunflower seed-based pesto, sweet roasted peppers and avocado, are freshly made to order and delicious. I’m not sure about the public’s appetite for sandwiches that approach the $10 mark, but time will tell. All sandwiches come with crispy, lightly sweet vegetable chips that, when I went, always seemed to be the broken pieces from the bottom of the bag. Some more side choices would be a nice touch.

Salads are a better deal. The spinach, avocado and grapefruit salad with a homemade a sesame and poppy seed dressing, ($6) came adorned with dried cranberries and slivered almonds that made for a wonderful range of flavor and texture. It may be the best thing on the menu.

The cool gazpacho and roasted red pepper bisque ($4.50) are both terrific, bright, vegetarian summer soups that would be an elegant escort for either sandwich or salad.

The new restaurant has a few kinks. The chicken caesar salad ($7) had a good dressing and generous chunks of chicken breast, but no croutons (not even gluten free ones!). It may be a sign of a persistent problem: Because Sunflower is an outpost with no real kitchen, supplies seem to run low often. The two young staff members are probably spread too thin to restock, and they often get backed up if even half the tables are full at lunch. But based on several visits, they seem to be improving.

By the time Sunflower opens its evening service, Moonflower, serving wine, chocolate and tapas, in August, perhaps they’ll have their game down. After all, they’ve already done what I thought was impossible by making gluten-free desserts that a even a gluten glutton like me would order.

The best is the Chocolate Mesquite Cake ($3.50), a dark, moist sponge cake with lots of sweet chocolate frosting and a secret ingredient: flour made from pulverized mesquite beans. The protein-rich powder adds a sweet, nutty complexity and welcome pliant bite that most wheat-free cakes lake.

Sunflower Cafe★★★★★(A wheat-free haven)Address: 287 E. Fountain Blvd., No. 100Phone: 520-0649Entrees: $6-$9Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-SaturdaysVegetarian: yesAlcohol: wine tastings coming in AugustCredit cards: yes

Photo by KEVIN KRECK/THE GAZETTE