Had enough pizzas, hamburgers and canned soup?...

Had enough pizzas, hamburgers and canned soup? Then treat yourself to a real feast. It won’t be cheap, but you’ll have first-rate food that homes in on the latest trends. The source is Joan’s on Third, a classy take-out place. There’s lots to choose from, so it’s easy to put together a great meal. We thought about pesto-crusted salmon but settled on pollo espresso gallantina (half a chicken stuffed with ricotta and prosciutto) accompanied by baby carrots roasted with oregano and mint and “flattened” Yukon Gold potatoes--the potatoes are boiled, then crushed until slightly flattened and seared with red pepper and rosemary. We skipped dessert in favor of an extra accompaniment, tiny sweet-sour caramelized onions, and we sampled some extraordinary roasted red grapes that are on the list for a future visit.

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Pollo espresso gallantina, $12 a portion; oven-roasted baby carrots, $6.25 for half a pound; flattened potatoes, $8 for half a pound; cippollini in agro dolce, $8.50 for half a pound, at Joan’s on Third, 8350 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles. (323) 655-2285.