The Out-of-the-Box Gourmet

By Anita Hamilton

Dinner arrived in five boxes the other night: one for the ribs, one for the orzo, two for the carrots and the last for the tiramisu. The boxes were ordinary, and the lumps of vacuum-packed frozen food inside looked anything but appetizing, but no matter: the meal for two I created with them a few hours later was divine. Divinely gourmet, to be precise.

I love to eat well, and I make a mean meat loaf, but I don't always feel like playing Julia Child. So when I heard about the launch of a new website called FiveLeaf.com which features entrees from top chefs around the country, I was intrigued. On your behalf, I decided to taste-test FiveLeaf against the more established Impromptu Gourmet.com Both offer complete gourmet meals that take about half an hour to throw together. By contrast, most fancy-food sites, such as iGourmet.com and DeanandDeluca.com focus on individual treats, like duck pate or Belgian chocolates.

I started with a two-person feast from FiveLeaf that cost me about $70, including shipping--a bargain compared with what I would pay if I dined at, say, the New York City restaurant Daniel (or, depending on your point of view, a rip-off compared with Dominos.com)

I didn't go near a microwave to make either entree. For the orzo with lobster ($29.99) from French Laundry in Napa Valley, Calif., I simply boiled some water, plopped three vacuum-sealed bags into it, let them sit for 25 min., slit open the bags and arranged the ingredients on a plate. (I admit I did saute the lobster in a bit of butter for a few seconds, but it was worth it.) The tamarind barbecue pork ribs ($19.99) from the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, N.M., were even tastier and cheaper than the lobster, and they required a mere 12 min. in a hot oven. The only real disappointment of the evening was the frozen carrots, which were tasteless and cost $15. I got a prompt refund, thanks to FiveLeaf's money-back guarantee.

The Impromptu Gourmet meals, also about $70, came in far prettier boxes, and there were only two--one for the breast of duck with a pomegranate molasses glaze ($39.95 for two servings) by Charlie Palmer of New York City's Aureole, the other for the molten chocolate cake with caramel custard sauce ($12.95) from Manhattan's Gramercy Tavern. At first I was a tad overwhelmed by the 10 plastic bags that the ingredients came in. Luckily, assembling the spread turned out to be as easy as painting by numbers. Since Impromptu's meals come refrigerated instead of frozen like FiveLeaf's, I didn't waste time defrosting.

If I were capable of making such a meal myself, it would have taken me all day to shop, chop and cook. As it was, my toughest task was poking open the plastic pouches. In fact, my big complaint has little to do with the sites. After eating so well, I can't imagine going back to my real life of stand-up meals and leftovers. Now I long for filet mignon--in a box.

Hungry for more info? E-mail Anita at [email protected]