Day 3: Zankou!

I was Jonesing for some Zankou chicken.  I know I said in this blog I was going to do something new every day - well some things will be new and some will be great things I forgot about, or haven't done in a while.  Anyway, before we were married, when Mark and I got the craving we used to drive to the valley for this cheap take-out chicken.  Now, the gods have smiled down on us and deemed us worthy of one here on the Westside, on Sepulveda just south of Santa Monica Boulevard. For my money, at any price, you can't get chicken better than this.  It is Mediterranean food, and I have only ever ordered one thing: #11 Chicken Tarna Plate.  The perfect sectioned-off take out box comes with hummus, tahini, chicken Tarna (marinated, roasted, juicy chicken that turns on a giant spit - they slice it off and put it in the box), also lettuce, tomato, and the signature pickled turnips that are an other-worldly pink color.  It's all amazing.  On the menu there are raves from The New York Times (!), the L.A. Times, the Seattle Times, Zagat, L.A. Magazine, you get the idea.  In the bag they give you garlic sauce and pita bread, which I toast at home and devour.  It's 9.99, ready about two minutes after you order, and it's pretty near-perfect.  On the back of the menu the chicken they use is described as "all-natural."  I don't know if this means hormone-free/antibiotic free but I sure hope so.  Now that I look at the menu, I am thinking of ordering outside the box next time and getting falafel.  Only if it comes with those pink turnips on the side...but then I will probably just end up picking the Tarna off my husband's plate when he's not looking...