Meridians wants the world on its menu
By Rita Moran, Restaurant critic
July 4, 2002
Meridians World Deli and Pizzeria is a kick-back place with designs on an eclectic cuisine. The "World" in its title is reflected in a huge wall mural-map of the world and in a few tentative steps toward fare that extends beyond its original Italian deli specialties.
Greg Colliton and Joseph Williams established the spot nine months ago in the Vons Plaza off Seaward Avenue in Ventura. They stocked the deli cases with good Italian cheeses and sausages and started off serving pizzas, sandwiches, salads and pastas. But their dreams were of a world of food, much of it untapped in Ventura County. They added soups and mentioned the possibility of venturing into South American dishes by summer.
We had hoped to find more of such south-of-the-border fare in our admittedly early summer visit but discovered just a few. Still, our meal was satisfying in other ways and we left impressed with the freshness of the salads and the solid quality of the Italian specialties.
Meridians is a casual spot, where customers can find a young couple sharing coffee over an early dessert; another pair digging into pizza; and a young family relishing pasta and salad. Even a dad dropping by to pick up an order found time to spoon-feed his toddler daughter some soothing ice cream, adding to the informality. All fit equally well into a deli whose diverse wall decorations and plain cement floor seem appropriate to its beach proximity. It's a place where food on the run is a good match for shorts and sandals.
Searching for the exotic beyond the Mediterranean fare, I found an evening's special Brazilian salad ($8) and chicken tortilla soup ($5). There is also a La Pampa pizza ($12) whose ingredients match a few on the salad, specifically hearts of palm, which fortunately I like a lot.
We ended up with a mixed bag of dishes, ordering the salad and soup, then adding the more familiar antipasto plate ($9), shrimp scampi with pasta ($11) and a peach sorbet dessert ($3.50).
The tortilla soup was an excellent vegetable mix, with just a slight spicy accent. Tortilla slivers and melting cheese added the proper Mexican flavors. We didn't find much chicken in the small but deep bowl, but we didn't miss it.
Meridians' antipasto showed off the deli's variety of Italian items: pepperoni gigante, capicola, dry salami, artichoke hearts, buffalo and smoked mozzarella, Greek and calamata olives and a cherry pepper, served with tomato and greens. Depending on the state of the deli case, the ingredients may vary but will include a fine representation of antipasto components. Drizzled over it all was a well-balanced balsamic vinaigrette, which also enhanced the Brazilian salad.
The salad was a plate of mixed fresh greens, with the most distinctive addition the hearts of palm slices.
The shrimp in the scampi dish were of reasonable size, with good texture and flavor. The spaghetti base and the shrimp were folded into a fine garlic and white wine sauce. With each entree came a square of foccacia bread and a piece of cheese-topped garlic bread. Both were good, though the garlic flavoring on the latter was very muted.
As an afterthought, I went back for the peach sorbet, which I gathered from the menu would be served in a fruit shell. It was indeed presented in a whole peach, frozen along with the refreshing sorbet, but I was surprised to have it handed to me in its plastic bag container even though I had indicated we'd be eating it there. Setting it in or on a small dish would make a much better impression.
Meridian offers a wide variety of imported and domestic beers and other bottled drinks, along with a few wine selections. It's a relaxing place to visit, whether to pick up ingredients for home cooking or to settle in to sample the deli's own gradually expanding fare.
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