Organic food is becoming a craze, and that craze has hit Lincoln Way.

Organic food is food that is produced without the employment of chemically-formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics or pesticides.

“You could call it a natural food cafe — all of our vegetables, grains, coffee and most of our spices are organic,” said Jon Runner, owner of the West Street Cafe and West Street Deli. “All of our meat, except for our fish, dairy and eggs are local. It is all minimally processed, and none of it is given any type of chemicals.”

The West Street Cafe will be opening on Lincoln Way where the old Planet Sub was located.

“We are really anxious to get open,” Runner said. “I think we will be open Monday [April 11]”

The cafe will serve breakfast from 7 to 10:30 a.m.

Runner and Marshall Newman, a cook at West Street Cafe, are most excited about the organic free trade coffee. The majority of the syrups will be made with real sugar, and the local Picket Fence Creamery will produce the milk.

“I don’t know how you cannot have a good cup of coffee when you have all that stuff in it,” Runner said.

“Our coffee shop aspect is a big thing,” Newman said.

The menu for the new cafe will hold anything from cheeseburgers to salad, covering all different types of ethnicities like Asian, Thai, Caribbean, Cajun and traditional American-inspired foods.

“We will even have fajitas, fish tacos, jambalaya and maybe even gyros,” said Runner.

Although both men were persistent on keeping a secret about what would be on the menu, they did want to make very clear that the items will offer a variety for everybody.

Some of the more traditional items will be grilled chicken sandwiches, wraps, pasta, smoked beef, chicken, salmon and pork, along with a huge vegetarian menu as an added twist.

“I have cooked at a lot of places around town, and I think it will be fun to work somewhere where we have some freedom of expression to do some different things,” Newman said.

“It is in a true sense a cafe,” Runner said.

The process will be simple, beginning with ordering food at the counter. After that it’s a personal preference whether to sit down and be waited on or take the food and go.

“We are going for quick but nice; we expect most meals to take less than three minutes to make,” Runner said.

Runner expressed his gratitude for the help from his gracious parents, who have been partners with him since he first began 11 years ago.

“I didn’t see any future in the deli,” Runner said. “I make a good living, but I don’t see it being good enough to help my parents out.”

Runner already has his own catering business, but hopes to one day expand to the basement of the West Street Cafe, still basing his theme on locally-grown and produced foods.

Until then, Newman and Runner expect there will be people skeptical of the new cafe, but they are ready to walk anyone through and prove they have nothing to hide.