Darlene Croply, a soft-spoken grandmotherly woman, raised seven children on a farm with a deep commitment to using only healthy, pure food.

“When we were young,” her son, Reggie Bickford, said recently, recalling life on the farm in Mercer, “we ground our own flour, cooked everything on the wood stove. We raised our own chickens, gathered the eggs. It has actually been a lifestyle.”

“We always ate really healthy food,” Croply said, “and gradually we phased meat out of our diet.”

So when her children grew up – “All strong and healthy,” she boasted – she was able to devote her attention to starting her own natural food, vegetarian restaurant. Two years ago she opened the Vegetarian Cafe in Skowhegan; her son, Reggie, took over four months ago.

The Vegetarian Cafe has gained a reputation for good vegetarian food at a competitive price. More than 70 percent of Bickford’s customers are nonvegetarians, he said, which validates his theory that healthy food can also “taste real good.”

Bickford, 38, is a jack-of-all-trades, according to his mom. “He is a photographer, carpenter. He makes snowshoes, canoes and dogsleds. He sings and writes his own songs.”

But it is cooking – vegetarian cooking – that fuels Bickford’s passion.

“I love it,” he said, picking over kidney beans for a batch of veggie chili. “It is just natural for me.”

“When I was 5 years old I pulled the kitchen chair up to the counter to help mom cook and she had to force me to leave the kitchen. Over the decades at his mom’s counter, Bickford learned the secrets of good vegetarian fare: combining Portabella mushrooms and walnuts to make “meat” balls; stuffing peppers with millet loaf; creating teriyaki “meat” with gluten; creating an Alfredo sauce using cashews and potatoes; using a combination of up to 20 spices to create “eggs.”

“It is easy for me but it comes from a lifetime of cooking,” he said. “I don’t get into the vitamins, minerals and all that other stuff that vegetarians must keep track of in their diet. That’s up to them. I just prepare simple, pure, wholesome food.”

Because vegetarian cooking often requires lengthy preparation, Bickford said, “I’m basically always cooking.”

Everything he makes is from scratch and locally purchased, including organic grains and vegetables in season. To keep his costs down, Bickford cans seasonal treats, such as fresh tomato salsa. He also grows his own herbs that he dries for winter use.

“My son cooks better than me now,” Croply admitted.

Bickford said he never took a cooking class (“I’m just a pantry cook, really,” he said.) but has found himself in the unique position of giving one. “What I teach, really, is how to cook. Not how to follow a recipe. In vegetarian cooking, the seasoning is the key. I teach the relationship between the food and the spices,” he said.

Every Sunday night, some of his customers, including several area chefs, join him in the homey kitchen of the cafe to prepare a meal. They then set a long table with good dishes and cloth napkins and share the bounty together. Just like a family.

It is that dedication to maintaining a family atmosphere at the Vegetarian Cafe that seems key to its success. The restaurant used to be a home and the kitchen is just like grandmother’s. Open cupboards reveal a collection of various colored plates and stoneware bowls. Herbs grow above the kitchen sink and spotless pots and pans hang from a ceiling rack. The refrigerator is a standard home-size unit.

Only a row of crockpots on the sideboard and a cash register tucked in the corner give any hint that this is anything other than a home kitchen.

With the kitchen open to one of the three dining rooms, guests can watch Bickford cook, and he can keep a running conversation with his diners. “I’ve had customers say ‘We feel like we’re honored guests in your home.’ For me, it is the most wonderful thing. I can cook, which is my passion, and have all these visitors.”

The only advertising Bickford does is at the local health food store in Skowhegan, yet his cafe is full each day.

Bickford said his customers enjoy the informal atmosphere. “If the cafe is full, they will share tables. I’ve had customers who begin talking to those at a nearby table and by the time their meal is finished they get up and join each other.”

One toddler, a regular customer with her family, asked her parents recently, “Can I go eat at Reggie’s house?” The dining rooms are cozy, with Croply’s handmade quilt hangings on the walls, ticking for tablecloths and denim curtains at the windows.

“That’s the atmosphere we want,” he said, and it appears to blend perfectly with Bickford’s happy-go-lucky attitude. Quick to laugh, Bickford said he is at peace when he is cooking. “I have such a sense of place and peace when I’m cooking. There is a sense of security in the kitchen. Let’s admit it, you can’t bake a loaf of anadama bread and be in a bad mood.”

Bickford said the highest compliment he can receive is that the food just tastes good, regardless of whether it is vegetarian cooking or not. He said a recent customer told him “I’ve had that vegetablarian stuff before but yours tastes great, just like it had fat in it.”

The caf?’s menu includes vegan burgers, sandwiches, soup, the special of the day (such as “salmon” loaf) and salads. Chili is a customer favorite and is always available. Desserts, breads and rolls are all baked fresh daily.

Tucked into a side street, off Route 150, Reggie Bickford’s Vegetarian Cafe can be tricky to find. It is located on Cote Street, which runs off St. Mark’s Street. Diners can call 474-7478 for directions.

The cafe’s hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Sunday. It is closed on Saturdays.

Gazpacho Soup

6 cups ripe, peeled tomatoes

1/2 cup red bell pepper

1/4 cup green bell pepper

1/2 cup onion

1/8 cup scallions

1 cup cucumber

2 teaspoons dried or fresh parsley

1 teaspoon each, dried or fresh thyme, tarragon and basil

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons sea salt

Chop, slice or dice the vegetables to your individual liking. Place three cups of the mixture into a blender and pulse to your desired texture. Blend with cut vegetables and chill at least four hours before serving.