Take-Out Can Take the Heat Off the Cook

It’s been too hot to cook, so I have been making and renewing my acquaintance with some of the city’s local take-out food.

Abiento on South Lake in Pasadena has opened a gourmet deli case. Take-out service is still very new--in fact, it felt as if my friends and I were the first serious, load-it-up customers. Our server was helpful if inexperienced, but somehow, eventually, we left with picnic fare and dinner.

At Lacey Park in San Marino, we took our trusty Swiss Army knives and cut into a baked herbed chicken stuffed with bay leaves, lemon and garlic: It was tender, moist, cold--surely the perfect thing to eat in the dappled shade of camphor trees on a hot summer day. With the chicken, we had a very bland pasta salad with olives, scallions and tomatoes and a decent, lemony Caesar. We debated whether or not to leave the seafood lasagna for dinner, tried it cold and found the layers of smoked salmon, shrimp and fish so delicious, we didn’t have enough left to take home to try warm. Wild rice-stuffed tomatoes also made a good cold relish for the roast chicken.

Desserts easily serve two. I recommend the pine nut tart with caramel and creme anglaise, or a bright-tasting lemon raspberry tart. There are also dense, moist brownies and cookies.

* Abiento, 110 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena, (818) 449-4151. Open for take-out seven days, for lunch and dinner. All major credit cards accepted. Entrees $4.95-$12.95.

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Netty’s in Silver Lake has become a faithful neighborhood standby. The Cajun/Pan American/Californian food is reasonably priced, well-prepared, tasty as all get-out and pretty, even in its utilitarian take-out packaging (no fancy plastics here). Food is cooked to order, so if you don’t want to kill 15 to 20 minutes, it’s best to order ahead.

Try the cooling, thin gazpacho with minced vegetables. Cream of mushroom and spinach soup is great, and lighter than you’d think.

If, like me, you find spicy food especially appealing on hot days, you’d do well with a meaty, blackened tuna salad with fresh fennel on good baby greens. Or, the pasilla chile peppers roasted and stuffed with shrimp, corn and feta cheese. Red beans and rice with discs of andouille sausage might be the best in town. Red meat lovers will like a coiled flank steak with roasted potatoes and fresh green beans.

* Netty’s Carry Out Cuisine, 1700 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles. Recorded daily menu, (213) 665-DISH; to place an order, (213) 662-8655. Open Monday-Saturday, noon-9 p.m. All major credit cards accepted. Entrees, $7.95-$12.95.

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Driving to Brentwood, a friend glanced at the front of Dino’s Pasta Market menu and asked, “Is it really the ‘Ultimate Italian Food Experience’?”

“No,” I said, “but it might well be the ultimate Italian food shopping experience.”

Nobody has gone to more trouble than Dino’s to locate and assemble in one store all the accouterments of the ongoing Italian food fad. In a stylish, closely packed storefront, choose from a veritable library of vinegars and olive oils, breads, cheeses, meats, gelati, olives and pastas, not to mention all sorts of canned and packaged delicacies. A wide selection of to-go food is available in the back: panini (sandwiches) grilled to order, antipasti, dips and toppings, focaccia, soup, side dishes and entrees.

My favorite entree--cold, herbed roasted chicken--goes especially well with small, roasted sweet onions and/or a refreshing salad of orange sections and chopped fennel. I didn’t like the still crunchy, undercooked eggplant found here roasted with peppers, or layered in the napoletanos, individual stacks of eggplant, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.

A simple, toothsome, lightly dressed black and white taglioline with sweet shrimp and tomato was delicious. A puree of cannellini beans and rosemary, to spread on toasted bread, was much improved with salt and a drizzle of good olive oil. Focaccia is on the light and spongy side, but I couldn’t stop eating the kind topped with juicy, dense, roasted tomatoes.

Check the dates on packaged take-out: A 6-day-old porcini and chicken lasagna was fizzy when we got it home.

* Dino’s Pasta Market, 11662 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood, (310) 447-2782. Open seven days, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. All major credit cards accepted. Entrees $5.99-$14.99 per pound.