Healthyca’s New Menu – also Press Panini – NoHo/Studio City
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 14:09
Okay, I don’t usually get excited about sandwiches. They’re not really my… thing. It’s not that I avoid bread or anything, it’s just that I tend to prefer my carbs in pasta form, or as roasted or fried potatoes.
So —
you’ve gotta appreciate it when I go nuts about this new sandwich I tried.
Backstory: My hands-down, all-time favourite lunch place in the east Valley is healthyca (fyi – it’s pronounced ‘health-i-ka’). I already reviewed them a couple of years ago.
Well, I am excited to report that healthyca has just launched a fresh new menu. I tried one of their new sandwiches on Friday and it was Oh. My. God. Fantastic!!
Portobello Mushroom on home whole wheat ciabatta (i.e. baked in-house, gentle readers) with beets, chevre, walnuts, roasted tomato (with a bit of a spicy kick!), black olive tapenade, lettuce and I sub’d grilled onion instead of raw red onion.
The complex flavour profile and combination of this heavenly sandwich was just a knockout. It was so damn good, I went back and got it again the very next day they were open (Monday). Remember - I said I don’t go for sandwiches very often.
Okay, having said that, I actually really like hot sandwiches. So, I love the variety – about thirty choices – at my new local sandwich joint Press Panini. Generally if I’m gonna have a sandwich, I’ll make a toasted ham, gruyère and pineapple one at home on my own panini maker (don’t laugh!) The benefits of now having a place around the corner that does Italian-style pressed sandwiches is (1) the variety, (2) the convenience – it’s a walk-up window and you can eat there or take it home, (3) it’s great for when you don’t have enough ingredients at home to put a lunch together and (4) um, there isn’t a (4)… BUT while the French-style bread roll they use at Press Panini is great in its own way, they don’t offer a whole wheat option at all, and I just can’t do white bread… Also, I probably won’t be craving hot sandwiches during this sweltering summer that often, either, which is too bad for them because I am sure I am not alone.
Anyway, Press Panini offers a rather extensive menu of a vast variety of hot, pressed sandwiches – all priced at $9, with a ‘kids’ size available for $5 – as well as tasty soups ($6) and big salads ($10). They do a meal deal of a sandwich (all are on their long, white panini bread roll) plus a side of soup, salad or chips and a regular sized drink for $14. I couldn’t go past the classic Caprese which was a tasty and simple combination of fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato and fresh, whole basil leaves, all dressed with a piquant balsamic dressing.
My guy opted for the classic Prosciutto with provolone cheese, tomato and romaine lettuce and dijon mustard as well as that same balsamic dressing. Mid-way through our lunch I asked for his opinion. “Can’t talk. Eating.” came the brusque reply, but when he had devoured the lot, the comment was “Delicious!”
Another great one we’ve tried since is the Olive All-Over with brie & parmigiana cheese, sliced kalamata and black olives, portabella mushroom (how do you spell that?!), fresh spinach leaves and tapenade. You can see it’s quite similar to my new fave from healthyca.
In any case, with the new and fantastic sandwiches, as well as their incredible salads and new fresh juice combos, healthyca is looking mighty tempting for that occasional lunch run. You can eat there, pick up food to go or they now deliver all day, within a certain radius, so tip the driver well!
The sandwiches at healthyca are all priced around $9-10 and also come pepperoncini and pickles and a small side salad – choose from new potatoes, wild or herbed rice, fresh fruit cup, quinoa or baby greens with house dressing. I generally opt for their incredibly tasty quinoa side salad.
Trust me – you just gotta try that killer sandwich!
Chef Maki’s small shopfront, industrial-type kitchen (in NoHo) churns out some of the hands-down, most delicious and fabulously healthy food you will ever taste. I’m not kidding! So, even though they have a new menu, a lot of their popular items are still available, such as the noho sausage sandwich, which is a homemade, free-range turkey sausage on a house-baked sesame roll with tomato, mustard, house-made mayo (the real deal, meaning egg yolks and good olive oil) also lettuce, grilled onion and their own divine fresh pesto sauce. It’s a hefty and satisfying lunch for $9.50.
The salads are all big, hearty and super delicious. Ranging from around $9 to $11, some new additions include the ratatouille salad with baked eggplant, roasted tomato, grilled zucchini, peppers and onions, glazed walnuts, fresh herbs and blue cheese ($9.10). I can’t wait to try the avocado caprese with fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil oil (that you pour on yourself) plus avocado, purple onion and baby greens ($9.24). All salads come with a dressing (chose from ten, including low-fat citrus and lime cilantro) as well as the same small side salads they serve with the sandwiches.
Maki offers several delicious ices teas and juice combinations all packed with various ‘superfoods’ such as mangoes, mint, or antioxidant-strong blueberries. He even adds a hint of cayenne along with pineapple, grape, orange and ginger in the fighter drink. All the food there is healthy, delicious and affordable, using high quality, mostly organic ingredients and produce – even the salmon is wild caught. All of Chef Maki’s food that I’ve sampled has been great. This is high quality and healthy fare.
Kinda like ‘stealth health’…
I also tried one of their delicious juices (mango, mint, orange melon and lemon) but it was tuff to drive home with the juices… even thos I didn’t spill any, I was petrified I would. (I always zip over and pick up.)
If healthyca isn’t already your favourite place, then it probably soon will be. Or please comment and tell us what your fave is!
healthyca
4724 Lankershim Blvd, just S of Camarillo, close to the Blue Moon nightclub, NoHo.
(818) 505 1037.
Fax (818) 505 1037.
Open Monday to Friday only, 11am-6pm, [coming soon – ’till 9pm]
Catering available – (818) 693 2778.
Website is under construction.
Press Panini
4389 Tujunga Ave, just S of Moorpark, Studio City.
(818) 487 2564
Open 9.30am–7pm.
Delivery available.
:: STOP PRESS:: Press Panini now accept payment via credit cards.
By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She completed a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is the creator and host of ArtsBeatLA.
Homer says:
June 25th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
“Can’t talk… eating” (one of Press Panini’s great sandwiches).
Andreas Krankl says:
June 25th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Hello All, Andreas here, owner of Press Panini. First off, let me say thank you for the review! In the coming Month, we will be offering both cold sandwiches as well as our Hot sandwiches. also 1\2 sandwich and 1\2 salad combos. we are open on the weekends from 12-8pm; and we deliver.
Thanks so much, I hope to see you here again soon! let me know where you read about us too.
thanks all!
Erinn says:
July 1st, 2008 at 11:56 am
We used to order lunch from there at least once a week when I worked in No Ho. OMG, it’s so good!!! And new stuff? I may have to get my butt over there even though I don’t work in that part of town anymore. Their salads are huge and fresh, the dressings delish! Their chicken dishes…to die for. Glad someone loves this place as much as I do! I’ll have to give Press Panini a try as well.
teenage glutster says:
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:15 am
I feel exactly the same way about most sandwiches (can only handle so many carbs from refined flour) but…whole wheat ciabatta?!
It’s so far away from me…
thanks for adding more on that awesome meal!
A component about my posts–especially conjunction posts–that I pay close attention to is, to be careful not to bore my readers to death!
That means no “lifestory-telling” or going too much into detail on one event, since I choose to not have any visual aids (people’s attention spans getting shorter by the minute!)
anyways, that sandwich though…
MaxMillion says:
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:14 pm
^ yeah, a little too far for the Vesper… damn shame!
Greyson Roads says:
July 15th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
What a GREAT concept! Great food….had one of their homemade soups & salad..OUTSTANDING! Greeted with a smile and outstanding service..what more could you ask for?..THANKS..I will spread the word!
THANKS PRESS!
MaxMillion says:
July 16th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
^ thanks for your positive comment.
BTW I tried a new (for me) sandwich at Press Panini today — the Tofu Teriyaki with avocado, grilled onion (a personal fave) and portobello mushroom.
It was insanely good.
I also sampled their lentil and bean soup (both being good options for veg heads) and it was impressive in its complexity of taste and general deliciousness.
Damn I am glad these places are so nearby!
I am *so* going back for a cup of that soup all to myself.
Sheila says:
July 29th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Panini Press has great food. CASH ONLY (WHAT A BUMMER) Twice the service wasn’t so hot. The employee working at the time a movie was being shot was standing in the back parking lot, not worried if a customer wanted to order or not. Another time (Monday 28th) tried to phone in an order at 11:35am and got a message three times. Decided to go by, thinking they may be busy and saw a closed sign was posted and there was a note taped to the window. Like I said the food was great, but with CASH ONLY and not knowing if your going to get service or not, or if they are going to be open or not, I think I try Healtyca instead.
Izzit Sohard says:
August 15th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Ooof! Mediocracy at it’s best/worst. $9? Too much. French roll? C’mon. 10 minute wait even though I’m the only customer? Get a decent professional panini press. Boring obligatory fountain soft drinks. Corn syrup is evil!
It seems the owner spent so much money on “fixing up” what was once a charming little take out stand that he has to cut corners to keep this shipwreck afloat. Service is horrendous. I was literally 2 feet from the person working the counter and was ignored for 5 minutes. I finally had to say ” I would like a sandwich please!” The sandwich was lacking, big time. It didn’t have that nice crunch a classic panini should and was a bit too greasy. I’ll give this establishment 6 months before it closes down and becomes a falafel stand unless they take their approach seriously. Hire some decent help, get the proper Italian breads, stock some cane sugar bottled soft drinks and fresh brewed ice tea, get a faster panini press and lower the price. For a few dollars more you can get a far superior panini across the street at Aroma Cafe. And that’s not even their specialty!
Homer says:
August 18th, 2008 at 4:57 am
^ Gee, complain much?
This comment sounds fishy. “Izzit Blowhard” - do you work for/at Aroma or have another agenda, huh?
Because JUST WAITING IN LINE to place your order at that pretty but gastronomically underwhelming cafe takes WELL OVER TEN MINUTES most times during the day. You know it.
That crappy Teriyaki hamburger joint was a “charming little take out stand”?! Really? Anyone can go to google maps street view and see that scruffy eyesore! Press Panini is a breath of fresh air by comparison.
If you can’t wait ten whole minutes for a gourmet pressed sandwich to be cooked to order, then perhaps Macdonalds is more your speed?
Bogus comment, man! Those sandwiches DO crunch! What a dirty liar!
GRADY aka Izzit Sohard says:
August 18th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
No I don’t complain much, just when it’s warranted. I used the name “Izzit SOhard” to pose the question “IS IT SO HARD to make a decent panini sandwich?” The word “irony” should be removed from the dictionary since it’s meaning is lost on the modern Neanderthal.
I don’t work for Aroma or have an agenda, I just like panini’s. I was eager to add a new place to my stable of standbys. Now I’m willing to wait 15 minutes for a good panini but to be ignored for 5 minutes just to take my order when I’m the only person standing in front of 2 guys “working” behind the counter is downright unacceptable. Yes the Teriyaki was awful and the stand in disrepair, but I’m old school and a card carrying member of the Los Angeles Conservancy so it’s all about restoration with me. I would like to have seen the shack re-sided with wood and painted as originally designed. But that’s just a matter of aesthetics. Thank God Google Maps captured the stand in it’s former rustic glory for posterity. The glass brick tile is pretty but the money would have been better spent on a quality sandwich product. I guess I’m a bit of an architecture snob but I’m also an unapologetic 5th generation Californian that hates to see his hometown landmarks systematically obliterated. I bet you like McMansions and fake marble columns in front of your house. White wrought iron fences anyone?
As for the sandwiches, anyone can get a good panini at any restaurant, cafe, or grocery store deli. But if you are going to specialize in paninis and name your business after them, then your shit better be THE SHIT.
There’s a panini stand every 50 feet in Italy and even the crappiest one is 10 times better than this place. I just don’t buy their “specially made local bakery French roll” bullshit. It’s purely an economic decision. Quizno’s sandwiches crunch too but I wouldn’t feed them to my dog. McDonald’s? haven’t set foot in one since I was a kid. Dirty liar? I speak the truth and I’m clean, man. I’m so clean you could eat off my ass which is far more palatable than this joint. You are either in denial or have lousy taste in food. Or maybe that’s is good as food gets in Missouri or wherever the hell you’re from, tourist.
P.S.
How come you neglected to use the hexameter verse structure in your comment, Homer?
Look it up.
Homer says:
August 19th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Ha! I don’t have to look it up — I studied Ancient Greek & Latin at school.
Perhaps you might want to acquaint yourself with the distinction between ‘irony’ and ‘a play on words’?
That crack about Macdonalds was uncalled for and thus I apologize. I wouldn’t wish that kind of culinary heart attack on anyone.
I also have to agree that if a business is going to specialize in something, they ought to excell.
I urge you to sample at least one other panini - of their 30 or so choices - and perhaps you might have a better experience.
And why not phone your order in? No waiting! That’s what I do as I live less than ten minutes away, so it works out well for me.
Homer says:
August 19th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
p.s. Thank you for your kind invitation to eat off your ass.
Only if it is sushi.
Grady says:
August 20th, 2008 at 1:42 am
Forgive me for assuming your brain’s capacity matched that of your tastebud’s. I stand corrected in the irony department. My grammatical competence tends to deteriorate as insomnia sets in. Maybe I should cut Press Panini some slack, being only a few months of age. It could have been an off night. As with any new venture there is a period of trial and error. I’ll take your advice and give them another try after the tweaks set in.
Ave atque vale
Your BFF
Grady
Grady says:
August 20th, 2008 at 1:43 am
p.s.
Sushi’s too cold. Could we make a spinach and cheese crepe?
Milton Chan says:
August 31st, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I decided to give PRESS a second chance. It took over 10 minutes which was fine, however my order was wrong and the guy at the window spoke broke English and encouraged me to hold on an apologized..$9 a sandwich I expect better service. In addition, everything is priced the SAME NO matter the ingredients. Also there is NO nutritional information available for any of there food unless you purchase a bag of overpriced chips. I agree with other patrons who have posted comments, the person who owns PRESS just put $ into cosmetics and offers a overpriced-boring menu. The bread used is NOTHING like the pictures they have posted.
I have been a Studio City resident for over 20 years and am DISAPPOINTED..
Aroma, even though often there is a line, is a better to place to eat with better service and prices.
MaxMillion says:
December 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
:: STOP PRESS:: Press Panini now accept payment via credit cards.
Steve Darby says:
February 12th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I decided to give them a SECOND chance. Single employee was NOT wearing gloves..handled cash and did NOT wash hands. They still use generic bread similar to Subway. NOTHING like the pictures on line or pictured at the front window. OVER-PRICED & POOR service. I agree with Mr.Chan. SAD…good concept executed POORLY.
minute says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 4:38 pm
they tend not to wear gloves while handling cash, however, they are put back on for food preparation.
Andreas K says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Hello again everyone!, Just to let you know, we now have a coffee & tea, which is free with any purchase in the AM; including refills! we will also begin having wi-fi starting in april. I look forward to seeing all of you again soon!
Andreas