Gelson’s Is the Market to Shop and Be Seen

Gelson’s--The Super Market--is unapologetically upscale, with eight Southland locations, Encino, Century City and our own Newport Beach locale to name three, reasonably tony addresses all if I may say so.

These are the sort of places where you can get sushi rolled for you in front of your very eyes (never mind that the sushi man is from Taiwan and not Japan, as the one I met happened to be,) chill a bottle of wine in four to seven minutes in a contraption called the Wine Well Chiller (can’t have warm Chardonnay) and do a year’s worth of epicurean shopping in one fell swoop. Want to see high fashion? Pop into the Newport Gelson’s around Saturday noon, if you can get past all the German cars in the P-lot.

In case you’ve forgotten how to cook, though, Gelson’s hasn’t forgotten you. You file into this market past a $3.69-a-pound, do-it-yourself salad bar, stocked to the rafters with trendoid items such as fava beans and flaked tuna. I must admit the greens are fresh and crisp when you get them home, though, in the end, I chickened out of dressing them with the honey Parmesan my friends picked out and settled for a splash of extra virgin olive oil.

Next you arrive at the Fresh Ideas/deli counter, to my view nothing more than an overpriced steam table. Here you’ll find a soup, an entree and a side dish that change daily, things such as beef burritos, tamale pie and Salisbury steak. Yessir, fresh ideas, like they said. I did try the epicurean pizza that day, Cajun chicken, a great value at only $1.99. Too bad the thing was bone dry from a heat lamp.

This is also the counter for good baby back ribs, run-of-the-mill supermarket fried and roasted chicken parts and the usual assortment of cold cuts, nothing earthshaking. We bought a half-pound of ribs for about $5 and found them a reasonably good value. Steer away from the gluey mashed potatoes, though, which look a lot better than they taste.

The next counter features an array of made-up salads ($4.99 a pound) with names such as bulgur wheat and Chinese chicken. The rice salad we tried was fresh and tasty, full of peanuts, corn and other goodies. We just wondered why we were paying $4.99 a pound for the stuff.

You’ll also pay an upscale price for the wonderful breads Gelson’s stocks, typically those from master baker Nancy Silverton and her La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles; $2.99 buys a whole bag of La Brea’s crusty, chewy French rolls, and they are the best around. You might also want to try Silverton’s terrific olive bread, though at $5.99 a loaf you’ll find it a luxury indeed.

The best desserts for an impromptu meal assembled here are the beautifully arranged fruits-- cherries and peaches looking especially fine right now. There is also a large bakery section for the die-hard dessert lover. Try the pint-sized Oreo cake, $6.25, or the good chocolate chip cookies, $3.59 for a half pound.

You can pay with most any debit or ATM card here. That seems, for some of us at least, to ease the guilt.

* GELSON’S

* 1660 San Miguel Drive, Newport Beach.

* (714) 644-8660.

* Open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday till 7:30 p.m.

* Visa, MasterCard and some ATM cards.