KEYSTONE HEIGHTS — At the center of the city, sits a new restaurant bringing the words sweet and savory to life.

It's where bold flavors are crafted from simple ingredients. And where success thrives off of always trying something new. 

Their cherished motto:  Real food, real flavor, made fresh.

Whisk Café on Lawrence Boulevard is far from what the average foodie would expect. Every meal is made to order, from scratch and with the hopes of bringing healthy options to the community.

"We try to keep it fresh and friendly and flavorful," said Peter Todd, owner and head chef. 

Since early last year, the cafe has cemented itself as a Keystone Heights staple. Homecooked food is cooked up every day with each customer's taste buds in mind. Whisk Café, Todd said, prides itself in diverse menu options filled with familiar and cultural favorites, like salads, hand-breaded chicken tenders, meatloaf, buffalo mac and cheese egg rolls, tomato bisque soup and Cajun shrimp pasta.

Hand-pulled, roasted and carved meats are fresh, and used for their authentic Cuban and pork tenderloin sandwiches. And you can't forget the 32 flavors of hand-scooped ice cream and fruit pies.

"They all have some unique characters and qualities to them," he said. "We try to keep it fresh and friendly and flavorful.

Todd has been running restaurants for more than four decades. He opened his first space 20 years ago in Indiana. More than 6,000-square-feet and seating 300 customers, he said it was way too big for him at the time. 

"I was in a very expensive part of town and then the economy turned bad in 2008."

After leaving the business in Indiana, he went to work at Butler University to become a culinary chef. 

"When you run all of those restaurants, I didn't have a lot to do with the kitchen anymore. I was just overseeing and running around, too busy," he said. "It gave me the opportunity to get back to cooking."

He retired and moved to Keystone Heights with his family. He said he was going to lead a quiet life. But that wasn't quite what happened. The space at 190 S. Lawrence Blvd. was open. What was initially a pizza and ice cream shop, Todd wanted to up the ante.

"We definitely recognized the need and something nice to have in this area."

Whisk Café has a feature dinner meal every day, and the menu is frequently rotated.

"I take pride in ingredients and good stuff. I take pride in what we do," he said. "It's nice because every day I get to experiment something new."

After opening last year, the city and community have shown nothing but support, he said. Whisk Café has become a part of the community.

Just recently, the restaurant expanded on its dinner hours for those on the late-night go, and they were the first restaurant in the city to join Door Dash. Although he wants to eventually expand the dinner menu in the future, Todd said he wants to continue to focus on remaining consistent. Because that's the No. 1 thing, he said, that keeps a food business going.

"The key to success is consistently building credibility. You have to make the same thing every day in and day out," he said. "And we're getting to that point where our consistency is really strong."