At the risk of oversharing my gastrointestinal woes, I will just say that for the last several weeks, I’ve been unable to eat a lot of stuff I love. But this past Saturday, I finally had my culinary freedom, and I needed a salad. And when I think salad, I don’t instantly think: Celebrity Café & Bakery. I think of sweets, carbo-licious breakfast fare and an ambience that whispers: "Shhh ... you’re in a tearoom." But I heard that they had a nice array of the green stuff, so I sallied forth. There are Metroplex locations in Colleyville, Dallas and Frisco. There’s a Plano location as well, but be warned: It serves a very limited lunch menu (sandwiches shrink-wrapped and placed into a refrigerated grab-n-go cooler). My dining companion and I settled in at the Frisco location. I scoped out the salads, she the sandwiches. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Celebrity salads: Whose dressing are you wearing?</span></strong></p><p>Five choices on the menu ($6.99-$8.99) including the Texas Caesar salads (we didn’t taste it, but we assume what makes it Texan are the roasted red peppers, corn and a spicy Caesar dressing). I opted for the fancy-looking Donald LaClair’s Turkey Bistro Salad ($8.99). For this picky eater, it was salad nirvana. The mixed greens and the citrus vinaigrette dressing were super-fresh. The chunks of real (not cubed or compressed) turkey breast exploded with juiciness. The turkey wasn’t seasoned, but messing with it would’ve disrupted the beautiful balance completed by the dried cranberries and candied pecans. This Celebrity salad had one high Q rating.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Celebrity sammies: Versatile, complex, unique</span></strong></p><p>Of sandwiches, paninis and wraps ($5.99-$8.99), you have 17 choices, ranging from gussied-up chicken salad to straight-up clubs and the delectable-sounding Santa Barbara (turkey, jack cheese, bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato, served open-faced on marble rye with fresh fruit). My companion got Susan Day’s Chicken, Apple & Walnut Panini ($7.29), which came on lovely, grill-marked sourdough, with oven-roasted chicken, caramelized apples, walnuts and Swiss cheese. After recently eating my weight in too many plain turkey sandwiches, a few bites of this symphonic collaboration nearly sent me into orbit.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Celebrity soups: Some stars fall flat</span></strong></p><p>It was a brisk, wet Saturday, so we both thought a cup of soup sounded nice. She tried the broccoli-cheese ($2.99) and found it tepid and watery. And on that cool fall day, that autumn pumpkin sure sounded great. With squash, carrots, nutmeg and a kick of chili powder, it was better than the broccoli cheese, but mostly meh.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Celebrity sweets: One affecting performance</span></strong></p><p>We didn’t go nuts with the baked goods, but we did sample two treats: The chocolate-chip macaroon was fairly dry, and we didn’t like how the chocolate chips overshadowed the coconut. However, the lemon thumbprints — shortbread cookies topped with a cheery spot of lemon icing — were a sublime little ray of sunshine beamed directly into our mouths. Two thumbprints up on that one.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Celebrity trivia</span></strong></p><p>If you go to more than one Celebrity location, you’ll notice that some sandwiches and salads have proper names attached to them, and that they vary by location. A few months ago, Celebrity Café & Bakery started acknowledging local heroes — people nominated by friends and family for their community service. Winners get their name on a menu entrée for a year. So, Laura Whittington’s Cranberry Chicken Salad in Colleyville is named for Whittington, who served as an interim foster parent for newborns waiting to be processed by the Gladney Center For Adoption. Over the years, she took care of more than 50 babies. </p><p>Now those are celebrities we can truly celebrate. </p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="subhead">Celebrity Café & Bakery</span></strong></p><p>Locations in Colleyville, Dallas, Frisco and Plano (limited lunch menu)</p><p><a href="http://www.enjoycelebrity.com">www.enjoycelebrity.com</a></p><p></div>