Tune up for Everett music fest at Cafe Wylde

EVERETT — It’s fresh, it’s tasty, it’s Cafe Wylde.

The cafe, whose owners used to run a similar vegan place in Lake Stevens, is housed in the former chocolate shop directly across the street from the Schack Art Center.

This little eatery is a good place to stop while you’re walking around Everett enjoying all the tunes during the Fisherman’s Village Music Festival this weekend or after you’ve visited the Chuck Close print exhibit at the Schack.

My husband and I had lunch there earlier this week, and the first thing I ordered was the 16-ounce wild berry smoothie for $9. Now that the berries are coming on around the region, this is a good choice. Jam packed with berries, the smoothie was so thick I had to eat it with a spoon. Refreshing and mouth-puckering, it was naturally sweet as well.

Next, we ordered the smokey avocado dip appetizer for $8. Multi-seed crackers accompanied the dip, which was served up in the avocado skin from which it came. The warm dip includes creamy cashew cheese and green onions with the mashed avocado.

My husband had three Bukhan tacos for $13. The corn tortillas are filled with Korean-barbecue-flavored jackfruit topped with avocado, radish, scallions, cilantro and the house-made sesame slaw.

I had the jackfruit burritos for $14. The soft spelt tortillas were delicious and filled with jackfruit (which looked and tasted like pulled pork) rubbed with Mexican spices. Refried beans and salsa verde complete the burritos, which are topped with sliced avocado and house-made cashew “sour cream” and served with a side salad.

Jackfruit is in the fig family and comes from south Asia. It is the current popular meat alternative and at Cafe Wylde the cooks know what to do with it.

One thing I have never quite understood about vegan eateries is the attempt to make vegetables and nuts taste like meat, eggs or cheese. If you just do not like meat, you might want to skip the jackfruit dishes on the Wylde menu.

However, if you have a hankering for a satisfying bowl of chili ($9), the cafe’s soup is filled with cannellini beans, zucchini, fajita-style jackfruit and sweet peppers. This sells out pretty quickly.

Cafe Wylde also serves a hearty quinoa bowl with beans, peas, gingered carrots, red onion, avocado, seaweed and tahini sauce for $14 and a big bowl of pesto pasta for $15, with zucchini and kelp noodles, garlic, onion, cashew and hemp pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, oyster mushrooms, pine nuts, avocado and lemon.

Salads and a nice variety of smoothies, juices and teas are joined on the menu by bonbons, cookies and “cheesecake.” We enjoyed a slice of that cake, which is made with nuts, coconut and cacao.

It’s not fast food at Cafe Wylde. In fact, especially on this busy weekend, expect to wait a bit for your food to be served.

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.

Cafe Wylde

2918 Hoyt Ave., Everett; 425-374-3877; www.cafewylde.com.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Alcohol: None

Vegetarian: You have come to the right place.

Other nearby places to check out during the music festival include the Fisherman’s Village-hosted food trucks on Colby Ave., Kama’aina Grindz (Hawaiian) at 2933 Colby Ave., Craving Cajun Grill at 2915 Colby Ave., Brooklyn Bros. Pizzeria at 1919 Hewitt Ave., El Paraiso Mexican Grill at 2801 Colby Ave. and Thai Gusto, 2011 Hewitt Ave.