Dining Out

Grand Central Rations

    Set inside the old Cadillac dealership at Harrison and 27th streets, Oakland’s first Whole Foods Market is a stunner. With its soaring ceiling, big windows, towering “Oakland” sign, and food aisles that seem to stretch to the horizon, the 55,000-square-foot store looks like a cross between a train depot and a European market. This is Oakland’s Grand Central Station of food.
    The center of the store features a number of dining options including brick-oven pizza, acres of salad bars, made-to-order sushi, burgers, a juice bar and sandwiches of every variety. There’s even a self-serve Everett and Jones barbecue station and a coffee bar with Wi-Fi access. The market-hall design, with 116 seats for in-store dining, is a first for Whole Foods, inspired, the company says, by international markets in such locations as Berlin, Germany; Granville Island, Vancouver; and Portland, Maine.
    One of the knocks against Whole Foods is its high prices, earning it the nickname “whole paycheck.” But leaving aside the question of grocery prices, the array of dine-in options merits another name: “whole afternoon.”
    I spent nearly two hours eating my way through the store. My first stop was The Bistro, an oval-shaped, lunch-counter of a place set between the wine section and the seafood department, a location that did wonders for my appetite. The casual restaurant, with fresh daffodils and linen napkins on the granite counter adding a touch of refinement, offers a small but appealing menu of prepared salads, grilled sandwiches and seafood, plus a changing lineup of specials written on a spool of butcher paper. On my visit they included an 8-ounce New York steak, grilled vegetables and fries ($14.99) and grilled salmon, vegetables and fries ($11.99). I went for the Mediterranean chicken sandwich ($7.99), sloppy but satisfying, with a grilled chicken breast, melted mozzarella, fresh basil, roasted bell peppers and a tomatoey aioli. The crusty ciabatta roll elevated it above the ordinary, but toasting the bread would have made it even better. The thin-cut fries served with it were light and crisp but should have been served hotter. A big glass of house-made lemonade ($2.99) was good and went easy on the sugar.
    Leaving my perch at The Bistro, I headed over to the long prepared-foods counter under the “Oakland” sign. The busy station serves great-looking sandwiches like the MacArthur ($6.99), tarragon chicken salad and avocado; and the mighty Fruitvale ($6.99), salami, prosciutto, ham, provolone cheese, tapenade, glazed cipollini onions and arugula. But it was the lineup of hot “meal deals”—a choice of several meat entrees plus two sides, ranging in price from $9.99 to $11.99—that caught my eye. The spoon-tender pot roast was a good as any I’ve had, made even better with the perfectly cooked garlicky green beans and extra-cheesy mac ’n’ cheese I got with it. The barbecue-sauce-glazed tri-trip wasn’t nearly as tender as the pot roast but had a good backyard-grill flavor. The creamy polenta and grilled vegetables (asparagus, bell peppers and zucchini) were good accompaniments.
    If you’re keeping count, that brings my meal tally to three. I confess I didn’t finish the pot roast and tri-tip. I packed them up to go and ate them later for dinner, and they were just as good. The food travels well and is a natural for nights when you don’t want to cook but don’t feel like going out, either.
    But before I headed home, I had a few more stops to make. The brick-oven pizza counter looked promising, but the crust on my double-wide slice of cheese pizza ($3.99) was too flabby and lacked the crispness I look for in a good pie. Over at the Asian Express counter, I got a serviceable bowl of soba noodles ($6.10) made with a savory fish broth full of umami flavors. The noodles tasted like the prepackaged stuff they were, but the fresh spinach and big leaves of wakame (seaweed) made for a decent bowl of noodle soup.
    My last stop was the Gelateria Naia counter, where I got a delicious scoop ($2.49 for a mini) of Madagascar vanilla bean gelato. While most of the store’s food is made in house, Whole Foods has partnered with the celebrated Bay Area gelato maker to bring in its products, and it’s sure to be another draw for the store. Everett and Jones operates under a similar relationship.
    One of the rules for grocery shopping is not to do it on an empty stomach, lest you fill your cart with Pop Tarts, frozen pizzas and other junk. But that rule doesn’t apply at Oakland’s Whole Foods, where a growling stomach is easy to remedy. The array of dining options is attracting customers who come just to eat and leave the grocery shopping for later.

   
    Whole Foods Market. Prepared and made-to-order American and international food. Store open 8 a.m.–10 p.m. daily (Bistro opens at 11 a.m.), 230 Bay Place, (510) 834-9800. Credit cards accepted, wheelchair access, $$.