Champagne’s Market Pops Up as the Toast of Upscale Delis

Champagne’s Market is yet another in the growing number of upscale markets with full-service delis built in.

The market is a sparkling clean establishment in the Newport North Shopping Center, already home to a Graffeo Coffee, the Chinese Cathay Newport and a fancy dan Italian trattoria called Marco Polo. Let it be said that this caliber of competition can only encourage quality.

Most customers gravitate toward the market’s salad bar, a self-service buffet advertising fresh field greens, hand-cut veggies, no preservatives and no sulfites. Among the usual suspects are fresh peas, sunflower seeds and a thick ranch dressing that goes particularly well with the greens ($3.29 gets you a pound of this stuff).

Soups are fine, possibly the best thing the deli prepares. One rainy afternoon, four of us shared a 32-ounce plastic foam container of a creamy, homemade-tasting chicken wild rice soup kept hot by a tight-fitting, snap-on plastic cover. The deli makes different soups daily, but the meaty chili always seems to be on hand. It’s ruddy-colored, thick enough to stand a spoon in, and 12 ounces serves two. Soups are $1.85 (12 ounces) and $4.95 (32 ounces). Chili is $2.45 and $6.95 for the same quantities.

Just above the glassed-in counter, you’ll see a sign advertising Boar’s Head meat products, vacuum-packed cold cuts flown in from the state of New York. These are especially flavorful meats, quite low in fat and slightly dry in style. They make good sandwiches, too. Good, peppery pastrami is served hot or cold, on a choice of breads with whole grain Boar’s Head mustard. Smoky, thinly sliced turkey is best when piled up on a sourdough roll with all the trimmings.

Godfather sub is another winner. This is a generous sandwich--mortadella, cappacolla ham, Genoa salami and provolone cheese piled up on a good crusty roll with lettuce, tomato, onion, pepperoncinis and Italian dressing, all for only $4.45. What’s more, it’s tightly packed in spill-proof plastic, and ours stayed the course intact through a half-hour trip in the car.

The deli sells other foods with which you can supplement a soup and sandwich. Tasty sushi in bubble-top plastic containers is trucked in from O’Bento House in Irvine, a Japanese lunch specialist. There are fine deli salads such as the dense egg, a creamy herbed potato, spiced olives and an unctuous chicken and sesame oil with slivered almonds, plus strange vegetable dishes such as three-bean broccoli. All are pre-packaged in plastic containers and range from $3.99 to $7.99 per pound.

Wines, desserts and, of course, a healthy selection of champagnes are available in the market area, everything from Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream to elegant little splits of Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc. For a special treat, try the gold-wrapped, hand-rolled chocolates from a Salt Lake City chocolatier called Bion-Cummings. They are $6 a box and make a romantic way to end a lunch.

* Champagne’s Market

* 1280 Bison, Suite B-16, Newport Beach.

* (714) 640-5011.

* Deli open daily, 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

* MasterCard and Visa accepted.