After spending seven days on a cruise through the Northeast, eating like the alpha male in a gorilla troop, getting a beer buzz every single night, and never setting foot inside the fitness center, I came back to St. Petersburg and saw it was time for a change. Time to become abstemious — at least for a while, at least for this week.

That’s why our Friday Food Fight subject is roasted veggie wraps. I’m feeling healthier just typing that.

Weary from international travel — our cruise had a couple of stops in eastern Canada — I chose two restaurants close to home in St. Pete: Mickey’s Cafe & Organics downtown and Love Food Central in the Grand Central District.

MICKEY’S CAFE & ORGANICS

We arrived around 6 p.m. on Tuesday and were the only customers. If not for the counter inside the door, Mickey’s looked more like a pub than a health-food eatery. Bonnie and I grabbed seats at a four-top near the window that looked out on Central Avenue.

A couple of guys were setting up a sound system for trivia night. One of them swooped by on roller skates. Soon enough, low-volume pop music (Katy Perry and such) gave way to a few loud bursts of emo-rock, then Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon.” A somewhat odd energy — call it comfortably quirky. The goings-on didn’t put a damper on our meal.

Our counter guy, Chuck, was affable and eager to please. I ordered a Roasted Veggie Wrap ($11.95) in a spinach tortilla, with a Boylan’s Black Cherry soda ($3.29).

Appearance

It didn’t exactly say “roasted” to me. The color-wheel of vegetables looked mostly raw, all crammed in there, wrapped real tight. It was certainly a fat hand-held.

A “side” of tubular vegetable chips did not look at all appetizing.

Texture and Taste

I picked it up. Cool to the touch. I took a bite. Cool, with an abundance of crunch. Not what I expected in a roasted veggie wrap. For that, I think warm, soft to the tooth. Setting presumptions aside, the wrap was damn tasty. It hit me with a flavor burst that said healthy, which fit the bill.

Still, I was a tad nonplussed about the “roasted” part, so I asked Mickey, the owner, about the recipe. He told me that carrots, zucchini and squash are pre-roasted, lightly, which makes them slightly soft. They’re combined with romaine lettuce, shredded raw carrots and red cabbage, and feta cheese. So he’s kind of splitting the difference between roasted and raw.

I found the sandwich a bit too dry. Chuck brought out small containers of Caesar and ranch dressings. The wrap worked best when I dipped each bite into the Caesar.

LOVE FOOD CENTRAL

The bright green exterior walls and hot-pink picnic tables sent out an upbeat, childlike vibe. At 3 p.m. on hot-and-humid Wednesday, I was all for that.

It was more of the same inside. The converted industrial space is tricked out with brightly colored wall paintings. Stars hanging from the ceiling looked straight outa Party City. Although LFC is a strictly vegan restaurant, its ambience leans more toward whimsical than boho.

We ordered at the counter. I got the Roasted Veggie Wrap with a side of potato salad ($13) and a house-made lemonade ($5). We sat a four-top and basked in plenty of natural light.

Appearance

As it turns out, when you’ve seen one roasted veggie wrap you’ve not seen them all. This one was pressed flat and resembled a quesadilla. Arugula peeked out, but not much else was visible. The sandwich was notably smaller than the competition’s, but definitely looked more roasted.

The potato salad was enticing, certainly more so than vegetable chips.

Texture and Taste

Picked it up. Warm. Took a bite. Warm. The crunchiness all but ended at the lavash bread. Inside, the roasted carrots, onions, red bell pepper, zucchini and mushrooms blended to create a composite whole that didn’t emphasize any particular flavor. If anything, the arugula stood out.

The pesto added zing, but had a lingering flavor that took some getting used to. The sandwich was tasty but kinda skinny. I polished it off without a pause. While the stuff inside was obviously roasted, was it really a wrap?

The large portion of potato salad, made with Vegenaise, was more satisfying than this mayo fiend expected. Finished it, too.

And the Winner of the Roasted Veggie Wrap Wrassling Match Is …

Mickey’s.

A tricky call. The two roasted veggie wraps provided quite a contrast. LFC won on the roasting; Mickey’s took the wrap. I enjoyed both, but found Mickey’s version more substantial, and with a more vivid flavor — once I got used to the idea that it was served cool not warm.

All told, I achieved my goal: two healthy meals and no gluttony.

A final few words about the Mickey’s version: You know how a lot of wraps leave you with a handful of flatbread because it wasn’t sufficiently stuffed? Not this one. Vegetables were present right to the last bite. This might seem like a small thing, but to me it indicates value.