You've had a long, hard day at work and stopped off at the gym before you made your way home. You're too tired to cook, too tired even to eat out. You're the ideal candidate for the hottest new trend in the food industry, "home meal replacement" - which happens to be as old as a 1950s' frozen dinner.
The difference is that the '90s version of the fried chicken, mashed potatoes and peas in the little aluminum tray is something like this: boneless chicken breast marinated with fajita spices and grilled, pasta salad with sun-dried tomatoes and capers, and haricots verts - all sold by the pound under the label "gourmet to go."
Of course, today's harried consumers could get fried chicken and potato salad from the deli or take-out Chinese; but because people are eating out so much, they're often looking for home meal replacements that are more interesting, fresher and healthier than the ones that have always been around. That usually means more expensive as well.
"Gourmet" is an overused word. But there is something to be said for a specialty store that makes its own balsamic vinaigrette, cooks its green beans in real butter, uses fresh coriander and has couscous as well as mashed potatoes.
Most places that sell food, including supermarket chains and restaurants, have jumped on the gourmet-to-go bandwagon. The field has gotten so crowded (and take-out gourmet can be so costly), we decided readers needed a guide to help them find their way through the thicket of basmati rice salads, marinated flank steaks and grilled vegetables.
Below is a look at some of the best gourmet prepared food in the area. This doesn't mean you can't get some very good dinners-to-go at your local supermarket or favorite Italian restaurant. But these are our nine favorite food boutiques.
Why not 10? When one candidate handed us a package of Ken's Lite Italian dressing to go on a Greek salad, and another didn't use fresh corn in a tomato and corn dish in August, we had to
eliminate them - and several others that almost made it. So nine it is.
Eddie's
5113 Roland Ave., 410-323-3656
The gourmet-to-go at Eddie's on Roland Avenue is quite traditional, and its Roland Park clientele likes it that way. This is the place to go to get the kind of food you'd fix yourself if you had time to fix it.
Sometimes you'll come across something unusual (and super) like cavatelli pasta with rock shrimp, tomatoes, cheese and fresh basil. But Eddie's fried chicken, sliced tenderloin, fat crab cakes, whipped potatoes, Caesar salad and the like are its mainstay.
Even the most ordinary fare can be very good. Still, there are slips. A filet of salmon stuffed with spinach was overcooked to begin with, and reheating compounded the problem.
The young woman who waited on me knew the food and made good recommendations. (The salmon was my own choice.) She also took the time to give precise directions on reheating, a real plus.
Eddie's
6213 N. Charles St., 410-377-8040
You would think that the prepared food at one Eddie's would be the same as at the other's, but not so. Two different chefs, two different kitchens. Some people feel quite strongly about one over the other. I don't see a great deal of difference; but the Charles Street branch does have more room for gourmet-to-go, so the selection is as varied as you'll find anywhere around here.
This means, for instance, that you can get duck a l'orange as well as the ubiquitous chicken, roast tenderloin as well as the ubiquitous marinated flank steak. There are often at least two different kinds of fish - and not always the salmon you usually find at prepared food counters.
Places with limited space don't do much with vegetables, but the Eddie's on Charles has steamed vegetables, grilled vegetables, broccoli, sweet potato fries and more. (There are even two kinds of fresh green beans available: one with butter and almonds, one Asian-style.)
Fresh Fields
1340 Smith Ave., 410-532-6700
Sure, Fresh Fields is known for its organic produce and natural foods. But its prepared foods are as gourmet as any in the area. The emphasis is on fresh produce and ethnic recipes; the stars of the show are a variety of interesting vegetable dishes.
You can create wonderful vegetarian meals with selections like the zingy vegetable quesadillas, sweet and sour tofu, Moroccan chickpea salad or a bean medley fragrant with cilantro. If you have a nonmeat eater in your family, you'll appreciate the convenience of not having to prepare a separate meal. Just pick up a vegetarian entree here.
Chicken and seafood are also on the menu, including herb-scented rotisserie chickens and sushi. They are good; but vegetarians and carnivores alike will enjoy the orzo with spinach, basmati rice salad with nuts and raisins, and the Algerian roasted peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. My only criticism is that some items are highly spiced, and unless you ask nobody warns you.
GlasZ Cafe
6080 Falls Road, 410-377-9060
For what it's worth, this carryout has the best interior design of any carryout in the city, maybe the world. That's because it's owned by the same folks who own the interior design firm Louis Mazor Inc. next door. I find the service slow here and somewhat chaotic, but I like the jazzy contemporary decor so much I don't really mind the wait.
And the gourmet prepared foods are worth waiting for. This is the kind of food that you can enjoy for dinner when you don't feel like cooking, but the dishes are fancy enough to serve to your guests at a dinner party: Chicken Marbella with dried cherries, green olives and capers; a soft crab tempura and an intriguing Oriental slaw; sweet potato balls and tomato-corn pudding; a goat cheese and sun-dried tomato tart; a dreamy key lime pie tart or chocolate eclairs for dessert. GlasZ continues to offer some of the most sophisticated and delicious gourmet-to-go around.
Graul's
7713 Bellona Ave., 410-823-6077
If you're lucky, Darryl will be waiting on you at the prepared foods counter. He was more than good-natured with a customer (me) dithering over the shrimp fried rice vs. the shrimp lo mein, and he volunteered free samples to help me decide.
Both dishes, by the way, were better than you'll get at many Chinese restaurants. They were made with large, well-cooked shrimp; included fresh red peppers and jade-green snow peas; and were appealingly seasoned.
Other international offerings ranged from chicken burritos and chimichangas to a fine gazpacho, spicy roasted eggplant with orzo and a grilled Italian panini (marinated beef and Brie on focaccia). But it goes almost without saying that the dinner-to-go case at this ritzy neighborhood market also includes such old Baltimore favorites as plump crab cakes, fried chicken and ribs.
I like the fact that Graul's kitchen is right behind the prepared foods counter. You can watch the chefs as they prepare the pasta salads or marinate the London broil. The resulting freshness is obvious when you try the food.
Harvey's
Gourmet Kitchen
Greenspring Station, Lutherville, 410-296-5549
This cute-as-a-bug's-ear shop connected to Harvey's Restaurant does a lot more than sell prepared foods. It's a gourmet food shop, sandwich place and bakery (with its own pastry chef).
The dinner-to-go offerings aren't quite as extensive or exotic as at some of the other places on this list, but they are practical and good. By practical, I mean dishes like the Roland Park Chicken Caesar, with strips of chicken, snow peas, sweet pepper, croutons, liberal amounts of Parmesan cheese and dressing. It would appeal to the most conservative eater but still has lots of pizazz. A bowl of cut-up fruit may not seem exciting, but Harvey's is as beautiful as you'll see anywhere. And we loved those herbed roasted potato strips.
There's usually one dish geared to youngsters who don't eat weird stuff like pasta salad. While you're feasting on Harvey's tricolored tortellini with julienne squash and shrimp, your kid will be happy with its fried chicken fingers.
Palate Pleasers
1023 Bay Ridge Ave., Annapolis, 410-263-6941
What I like about this quirky little spot in a nondescript shopping center is that it truly is gourmet to go. By that I mean, for instance, that they'll put a dollop of creme fraiche on top of their sugary, crusty-edged muffins for you. Everything is tempting. If you're not careful, you'll go in for a simple takeout dinner and come out with a whole mixed-berry pie for $20. Or a slim, elegant bottle of olive oil ($18).
Stay focused. Try the fajita-seasoned chicken strips - everyone in the family will love them. Or the lemon-basil pasta made with fresh herbs, the marinated summer tomatoes, haricots verts, crunchy jicama salad, cloud-like mashed potatoes. Whatever you get for dinner, be sure to pick up some of the freshly baked French or focaccia rolls to go with it. They are nothing short of superb.
The prepared food offerings at Palate Pleasers are somewhat limited, but they change daily on a rotating basis.
Sascha's Daily
5 E. Hamilton St., 410-659-7606
Those who eat lunch here have come to know and love owner Sascha Wolhandler's imaginative and reasonably priced food, which ranges from hot focaccia sandwiches to such goodies as curried chicken, lentil salad with orange slices, quesadillas and perfectly steamed asparagus - among 10 or 12 other choices. Starting in September, you'll be able to get many of these foods for supper. Sascha's will be offering bistro dinners to go until 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For less than $10 you can have a stuffed chicken breast, piece of salmon, fresh pasta or herb-encrusted baby chicken for two and a choice of two side dishes, including mesclun or Caesar salad. (Be sure to get Sascha's delicious homemade dill salad dressing.) Finish your meal with a giant chocolate chip cookie or one of Sascha's lemon squares.
Parking can be a problem here, although there are meters along this block of Hamilton. Your safest move is to call in advance, then pull up to the door and toot your horn for curbside service - "drive-by dinners," Sascha calls them.
Sutton Place
Gourmet
Festival at Woodholme, Pikesville, 410-484-5501
This is the Cadillac of gourmet carryouts in the area - or more accurately, the Ferrari. Many of the offerings are exotic; flavors of Mexico, Thailand, France and other cuisines mingle with regional American in the takeout case.
If you like spicy food you'll love the Thai barbecued chicken with Thai noodles, the mesquite-grilled fajita flank steak, the chili mashed potatoes with split roasted corn. Balance them with broccoli amandine or con-fusion salad (a colorful slaw with snow peas and raspberry vinaigrette). If you're lucky, Sutton Place's wonderful chocolate bread pudding will be available for dessert.
You can get entrees with two side dishes for a set price, usually $9 or $10. (Buy 10 with a "Take Home Bistro" card, and the next is free.) I love the way several of the dinners are presented on handsome white china plates in the case, just to show you how appetizingly they can be arranged when you get them home.