Gourmet Delivery Service Is a Class Act

Whether it’s blackened chicken or pizza, the “food to go” password is ease . And even easier than shopping for take-out goods, is having them delivered to your door. The new brain-child of Tarzana-based Savoir-Faire caterers, It’s In the Bag! is a self-termed “gourmet” delivery service, one of the many new ones around town offering fully prepared full-course meals.

It’s In the Bag! has three menus daily. Each order--whether it’s “Gourmet Fare,” “Lite Fare” or “Prime Rib Fare”--comes with vegetables, a green salad, dessert, home made bread and, yes, an after-dinner mint.

A recorded message announces the week’s selections. You can order ahead or call by 4 p.m. for same day delivery. Once your fingers have done the walking, all your fingers need do is turn on the microwave, toss out the tissue paper and untie the ribbons on the croutons, the salad, the miniature loaves of bread.

Vegetables were absolutely plain and steamed (we had broccoli and green beans and peas--all nicely undercooked). Salad was green, crisp and clean, no elegant lettuce here. Dressing--diet or “Polo” style (does that mean Ralph Lauren chic?)--both tasted like bottled varieties.

Details were inconsistent. While the miniature loaves of fragrant, soft home-made white bread were tasty (and sent with more butter than you’ll ever need) the salad croutons came showered with a downpour of onion salt. A horseradish sauce for the prime rib was piquant and rich, the container of “beef juice” tasted like melted bouillon cube.

As for the main course, it was nicely sized and clearly made from good ingredients. We had the thick slabbed prime rib on two occasions and both times it was juicy, lean and delectable. The accompanying baked potato was the real thing--no sullen microwaved imposter here.

“Lite Fare” is “for the health conscious” and tends to be chicken or fish with a low-calorie sauce and a serving of brown rice. One night we had tender chicken breasts with a satisfying mustard glaze. Another evening, when we were expecting chicken, a mushy, pedestrian filet of sole appeared instead. For dessert there was a small salad made of perfectly ripe fresh fruit.

By chance chicken was on the menu both nights that we tried “Gourmet Fare” (although veal, beef and turkey are often offered). One night dinner was the mildest imaginable chicken cacciatore; another night it was a juicy boneless chicken breast with mushrooms and grapes in a sauce so sweet we thought about saving it for dessert.

But there were better ways to end the meal. Brownies were moist and fudgey. A strawberry concoction was a melange of thick vanilla custard, fresh berries and a very sweet pound cake. If you live in Encino, Tarzana or Woodland Hills, delivery is free. For other nearby areas, there’s a modest service charge.

It’s In the Bag!, (818) 342-2598. 24-hour recorded message with daily menu selection. To order call by 4 p.m. on the day of delivery. Two dinner minimum. Cash, Visa or MasterCard. Dinner for 2, $21 ($27 for prime rib).

JWR Market

Food-to-go by phone may be easy, but food-to-go while shopping for a birthday present is downright convenient. Go get something gift wrapped at the Beverly Hills Robinson’s and you’ll pass a slew of chicken salads and a bakery. I would happily go to the take-out department (which doubles as a cafe), for espresso and one of their home-made baked goods--big fat cookies at $5.45 per pound were pretty wonderful as were the made-on-the-premises chocolate croissants--but I would be loath to bring their “upscale” salads home again.

One case is filled with very simple, unpretentious platters of tuna, chicken and chef salads which make an easy-going, coffee-shop style lunch. It’s the other case, of salads by the pound, which isn’t worthy of Robinson’s moniker.

Ranging in name from Mediterranean salad and insalata nuova to tortellini pesto and pollo funghi , and in price from $8.50 to $10 per pound, they ranged in taste from deadly to plain-Jane. One exception, pollo cetrioli , with cucumbers and scallions, was spring green and light. I would stick with the mocha chip and Heath bar cookies and the made-daily blueberry “danish” that tastes like a rich doughnut.

JWR Market at Robinson’s, 9900 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (213) 275-5464. Weekdays: 11:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Weekends: 11:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Cash, checks, store charge card. Validated parking.