BUYING TIME : Job and family demands leave many Southern Californians with no time for cooking. An increasing variety of quality prepared foods--from deli to deluxe--offers one solution to this ‘more taste than time’ quandary.

Hectic schedules and changing lifestyles are fueling the growth of home-delivery food businesses throughout Southern California and the nation.

While pizza still dominates this industry, a taste for more varied and upscale foods has broadened the market to include everything from delivered deli-style meals to haute cuisine cooked in your home by professional chefs.

Industry watchers attribute this burgeoning business primarily to the increasing number of women working outside the home. However, according to Anne Papa, a spokesperson for the National Restaurant Assn., “there are others besides two-income households using these kinds of services.”

Single parents, people who don’t cook but get tired of going out to restaurants, singles with no inclination to prepare a meal for themselves, and “empty nesters” are also having prepared meals delivered to their homes. The most recent Consumer Reports on Eating Share Trends showed that the number of delivered meals increased from 4% of all off-premises restaurant traffic (meals prepared by the restaurant but not consumed there) in 1984 to 8% in 1988.

Restaurants, caterers and specialty food stores are the more obvious sources for delivered food (offered in addition to their regular services), but there also are an increasing number of companies and individuals that specialize in home-delivered or personally prepared meals.

Chefs’ Delivery opened its first home-delivery service in the Mission Viejo/El Toro area in February, 1989. Two other stores have been added--Irvine/Tustin in March, 1989, and Huntington Beach/Fountain Valley in May, 1989. Through January of this year, the company has delivered 65,000 meals.

“Our menu follows the popular mainstream ethnic foods--Italian, Chinese, Mexican and American favorites,” explained Mike McGrath, vice-president of planning and development, Home Delivery Services Inc. “All of our food has been designed to travel well.”

The company offers family-style food, prepared to order and delivered on table-ready plates, covered with see-through plastic domes. Their menu includes appetizers, salads, entrees, sandwich platters, children’s specialties, desserts and beverages. They have recently begun offering wine.

Order taking is done by computer. Repeat customers need only give their telephone number--their address has been stored in the memory bank. Drivers deliver the food in specially designed insulated carriers that keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

Delivery is limited to a three-mile radius of each store and typically takes about 45 minutes from the time the order is placed. There is no delivery charge with a minimum order of $8.75, otherwise $3 is added to the check.

Not only is the Huntington Market a specialty grocery store, but it also custom caters meals and provides free delivery to residents of San Marino (minimum order is $35, and there is a $4 service charge to nearby communities). The market prepares specialized dinners, such as salt-free and low-calorie selections, as well.

“Often customers will request a whole stuffed turkey cooked with dressing and extra gravy or a rosemary-seasoned cooked leg of lamb,” said owner Bruce Horta. “We stress that we are not a restaurant and every order is individually prepared.”

The menu, available at the market, “allows customers to make up their dinner menu, selecting appropriate salads and vegetables. And I offer to assist them in selecting wines to compliment their menu,” Horta added. Extras include appetizers, tableware and floral centerpieces.

A representative menu, such as that photographed in The Times’ Test Kitchen, may include Saratoga boneless lamb chops, minted pear halves, baked stuffed potatoes with cheese and chives, steamed broccoli with baby carrots and mushrooms, dinner rolls and butterfly white cake.

The food is delivered in disposable trays. Catering, bar service and cleaning services are available at an additional charge. Telephone and fax orders are accepted. A 24-hour notice is preferred.

In addition to catering, Joann Roth operates two meal delivery services as part of her Someone’s in the Kitchen business in Tarzana. Her “we deliver tradition” operation specializes in holiday meals; the “foods to go” or “instant banquet” department focuses on delivered meals for special occasions.

The delivery portion of the business began as a favor to regular clients, Roth explained. There were times when they wanted prepared foods but didn’t need full catering. Her delivery business expanded over the years, and today she will develop individualized meals for as few as two people.

The menus for the “we deliver tradition” meals are preset and change very little from year to year. “These are not times when people want to have something they don’t know. They want it to look and taste like something they remember,” said Roth.

Her seder menu for Passover (minimum 15 people/$35 per person) features gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, chicken and brisket, seasonal vegetables, oven roasted potatoes, matzos, macaroons and Passover brownies. Charoset, maror, green herb and hard-cooked egg in salted water are also included.

Thanksgiving dinner (minimum 12 people/$35 per person) consists of turkey with old-fashioned dressing, giblet gravy, burnt sugared yams, broccoli custard and cranberry sauce. There are also three desserts--pumpkin cheese cake, deep dish apple tart and Joann’s famous Sarah B cookies.

Traditional meals are also available for Rosh Hashanah (minimum eight people/$35 per person) and breaking the Rosh Hashanah fast (minimum 15 people/$18 per person).

The “foods to go” or “instant banquet” meals are built around special occasions such as the Super Bowl, St. Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. During summer, the company offers a Hollywood Bowl feast (minimum 4 people/$35 per person, plus delivery).

Roth’s menus are a mixture of hot and cold foods. Those with heated items can be delivered ready to eat anywhere in greater Los Angeles. It should be noted that Someone’s in the Kitchen tries to accommodate clients’ needs and these conditions will be reflected in the cost.

The ultimate in dining at home without cooking? For $250 (beverages not included), chef Robert Van Diggele will prepare and serve a six-course dinner for two in a customer’s home. (His average party size is 10 to 12, but he can handle up to 30 people.)

Van Diggele begins by developing a menu with the client. The plan is to “build up in taste to a peak (like a mountain) then build down,” the chef explained.

The six-course meal includes hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, salad, entree, dessert and coffee. “I can go to 40 courses,” said Van Diggele, “. . . well, actually 18.”

He shops for all the ingredients, then arrives ready to prepare the meal in the client’s kitchen, using primarily his own pans and utensils. The client’s china, silver and glassware are almost always used; however, Van Diggele will provide these for an additional charge.

Although he had done some preparation for the photography session in The Times’ Test Kitchen, Van Diggele provided a close-to-authentic demonstration of his complete procedure. He appeared with a hand truck piled high with briefcases, plastic crates and a cooler--totally self-sufficient and ready for work.

Within minutes he seemed at home in his new surroundings and began describing his menu while working. The meat in the Venison Wellington was wrapped with spinach and sweet red pepper, covered with a duxelles of mushrooms and walnuts that had been flavored with anise, thyme and rosemary, then encased in the pastry.

The Wellington was served with a Cumberland-style sauce prepared with berries, hot English mustard and Port. Accompaniments included pommes Duchesse, asparagus spears, broccoli florets, baby carrots and Belgian endive.

If desired, finishing touches such as sauce preparation, meat carving or dessert flambes can be presented table side. Other special additions to meals may include food and ice carvings.

When asked why people choose his service, Van Diggele explained that many of his clients are busy people who don’t have the time to prepare this type of meal but welcome the opportunity to enjoy fine dining in the privacy and comfort of their own home.

Chefs’ Delivery--Fountain Valley/Huntington Beach, (714) 965-2433; Chef’s Delivery--Irvine/Tustin, (714) 851-2433; Chef’s Delivery--Mission Viejo/El Toro, (714) 380-2433

Huntington Market, San Marino, (818) 289-3562

Someone’s in the Kitchen, Tarzana, (818) 343-5151

Robert Van Diggele, Long Beach, (213) 434-3287 Food Styling by Minnie Bernardino and Donna Deane