Whole Foods has lunchtime in the bag

By Max Jacobson

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 | 4:30 p.m.

Greeting, Vegas epicures.

In this time of belt tightening and money crunching, good entrepreneurial ideas that both save us money and bring attractive option to the food world often surface. One such idea is Lunch Lady LLC, founded by a pair of enterprising Boulder City businesswomen, Lori Johnson and Valery Behr. Here's how it works.

Lunch Lady will deliver a variety of healthy lunches assembled by Whole Foods Markets to your home or office, with most items hovering around $6, hardly more than you'd spend at the supermarket. What's more, the delivery person is apt to be a comely maid dressed in a frilly apron.

This is a good idea, and not only from the standpoint of convenience. Whole Foods is known for healthy, low-cal and organic items, and the lunches I sampled were all good. One might choose, for instance, a bag lunch such as a veggie sandwich on whole wheat with sides such as whole-wheat chips and fresh fruit, or any of a number of salads, like a Chinese chicken salad, or an authentic Cobb.

Wraps can be falafel, southwest tofu, or others. There is even sushi, prepared fresh at the market sushi counter, by, if you can believe it, their staff from sushi-mad Indonesia. Call 205-8924 for prices and delivery hours, or visit online at [email protected].

Is anyone in the mood for something exotic? Origin India has long been able to claim the mantle of the best Vegas Indian restaurant. At least it is, in my opinion. No one can deny that this is a handsomely decorated place, either. The design includes dark brown leather and marble sconces worthy of a maharaja's palace, added to by carved pillars and several stunning Indian art pieces.

And the cooking is imaginative and dependable, a step up from the run of the mill north Indian menus that all seem to copy each other in the Vegas Valley. Start a meal with dahi ke kebab, deep-fried yogurt patties studded with poppy seeds, or addictive tiger prawns in a pomegranate extract finished with mustard oil.

Meats cooked in the tandoor, or clay oven, are wonderful; pudina chomp, lamb chops like you've never tasted, and the traditional tangri kebab, spiced chicken drumsticks. The vegetarians in the group can feast on bahaduri kofta, dense, rich vegetable dumplings, or paneer shabnam, homemade cheese served either in a sauce, or from the tandoor.

Origin India is located at 400 Paradise Rd. Call 735-6353 for a table.

Max Jacobson is the principal food columnist in the Las Vegas Weekly, and a Food and Wine Journalist for Vegas Magazine. He can be reached at 702-990-2454 or [email protected].