Why Cook? Prepared Foods Are All The Rage

In a neighborhood known for fabulous restaurants, perhaps it's no surprise the take-out foods are better than average, too.

While people have grabbed pizza and rotisserie chickens to go for years, these days, high-end prepared foods consumption is on the rise throughout the neighborhood. And the options are more diverse than ever. We spoke with four convenience gurus to find out why.

"Our business has been constantly growing since we opened four years ago," said owner Jeremy Wachalter.

"Mondays are definitely our busiest days," says Wachalter. He suspects the early week boom is due to weekend dinners out.

"At the beginning of the week, they don't want to cook," he said.

Luckily, his shop offers enough premade dishes to feed even the hungriest Brooklynians: on a recent visit, options included sweet chili chicken wings, roasted cauliflower and braised kale with mushrooms and bacon. Wachalter says his best-selling items are the Brussels sprouts and Cobblestone Foods' chicken dinner, which is "such a good deal, I don't even know why I'm offering it." $20 gets you a whole roasted chicken, two medium sides and two rolls. Not too shabby for a no-cook, gourmet dinner!

And Cobblestone Foods isn't alone.

While doesn't offer prepared foods per se, the shop does a brisk trade in pre-marinated meats.

"That end of the business has grown enormously since we launched it in summer 2010," says owner John McFadden, who estimates the sales volume of ready-to-cook products like lamb with rosemary and garlic has tripled over the past several months.

"We're a butcher first and foremost, so most people do come in for unseasoned products, but we plan to grow our pre-marinated meat selections and add new flavors," promises McFadden.

He attributes the demand to the late work schedules of many neighborhood residents.

"People like to come in and grab something that can be ready very quickly when they arrive home," he said.

At, the prepared foods business has been steadily improving since the shop opened in November.

"We went through ten pounds of Brussels sprouts in three days," marvels chef Andrew Burman. Besides the Brussels sprouts, the daily barbecue option is probably the menu's most popular. Recent selections include baby back ribs and apple-braised pork belly.  

Perhaps the neighborhood's most interesting prepared foods option comes from , which offers an innovative lasagna program. Simply drop off a lasagna pan one evening and pick it up, full of pasta, 24 hours later. Options include classic meatless, eggplant, tomato and swiss chard or goat cheese and mushroom. A similar meatball service is also available.

Brucie owner Zahra Tangorra says the lasagna program came from her desire to do something very "familiar and informal" yet "still serious food."

"This is the first time I've ever worked in a restaurant," she said. "So we do things pretty unconventionally in general."

Though Brucie's lasagna program launched just a few months ago, Tangorra estimates they sell 10-15 a week.

Imagine, Brucie cuisine, cooked in your own baking dish and enjoyed at home!