Articles Written
about Wholesome Choice
The Orange County Register
Let someone else cook it
These takeout spots are even more appealing during the holiday season.
By ANDREW HORAN
It's the time of year when the art of taking out rises to new levels around our place.
We really appreciate someone else doing the hard work of making a hot meal during these weeks between holidays. That way, we can concentrate on the side dish we're taking to Aunt Martha's for the holiday party, while the good folks behind the grills stoke our eat-at-home fires.
Hundreds of restaurants offer carryout, of course. Dozens more markets are in the take-away game, too. I've singled out two favorites here: one for home, one for work.
At Wholesome Choice market in Irvine, it's all about the chicken and beef cooking on grills. Most of the place is a grocery store with a wide variety of packaged and butchered foods.
But the heart of the store is the food court, a carryout section that dominates a fourth of the building - and a fourth of the market's sales volume, store director Israel Garcia says.
It is Persian to the core. Kebabs rule. The grill menu is simple: six kinds of kebab dinners.
Sure, shish kebab and its cousins have become something of a staple at backyard barbecues. Yet the fresh meats on the open-flame grill are an order of magnitude better than any I've ever tasted.
Our favorites are joojeh kebab ($6.99), simply flavored with lime, saffron and olive oil. Barg kebab ($8.99) is quartered filet mignon with onions. The shish kebab (chicken or beef) is succulent and filling, if a bit more familiar ($10.99).
On busy nights - that's most nights - there's a line at the grill.
It's what you do between order and pickup that can make your meal rise from nice to spectacular. Use the 20 minutes it takes for your food to be cooked and stand in a few more lines. Get side dishes like red-pepper hummus and Bulgarian feta from the deli counter.
Go to the front of the store and get in line for fresh mashadi ($1.99 a loaf), a flat bread with toasted sesame seeds that's sweet and tangy and a perfect place to spread the hummus and feta. They've just relocated the bread station from the food court and installed what Garcia claims is the only true Persian hearthstone oven in Orange County.
There are a few changes in the food court, too. Where once they baked bread, new grills are open for fresh Indian and Mexican fare. Coming soon: Chinese and Italian.
Don't miss the soup station, where the lines and the jostling grow intense, especially on these cool - cold! - winter nights. Bypass the chicken noodle and chili - not that there's anything wrong with them. It's the ash reshteh ($2.49 for 16 ounces) you want. The classic Persian noodle and mint soup is aromatic and soothing to your palate, your tummy, your soul.
Get the largest container you can carry.
You can rush home to eat, or join dozens of folks who sit and dine at tables near the front of the store in a cozy section that's complete with a set of toys to keep your kids distracted between bites.