December 11–18, 1997

food

It is clearly appropriate to treat wraps with nervousness and suspicion, because they are a trend sweeping the nation with the force of a really big blowtorch.

Planet Wrap's cosmic decor, by artist Mark Brodzik.

Photo by Julia Lehman

Wrap It Up

The wrap sandwich gets its own restaurant. Is this a good thing?

by Katherine Dahlsgaard

People of Philadelphia: I have seen the future of fast food and—whoa!—is it high-concept. Let's first briefly review some history. Rumor has it that John Montagu, the notoriously corrupt British politician and the fourth Earl of Sandwich, invented his famous snack during an all-night gambling binge. He was hungry, but didn't want to get up from the gaming table, so he called for meat to be placed between bread so he could eat with one hand and continue ruining his life with the other.

Over 200 years later, I find that, as a country, we are embracing what at first benignly appears as the next evolutionary phase of the sandwich: The Wrap. I assume you all know what a wrap is—a collection of fillings loaded and rolled into a tortilla—since they are currently featured on menus from Kentucky Fried Chicken to TGI Friday to Marathon Grill. It is clearly appropriate to treat wraps with nervousness and suspicion, because they are a trend sweeping the nation with the force of a really big blowtorch. We have become the nation of wrap.

Well, now there's a whole planet. Wrap "We Wrap Your World" Planet had been open just 10 days when I visited it, and, impressively, the shit was already together at this order-at-the-counter eatery. Sparkly decor with logos-a-plenty. Cute graphics on the walls. A Blade Runner-esque video of Philadelphia celebs, soundlessly demonstrating how to eat a wrap with as much sensuality as possible, played over and over on a large mounted TV screen. Wrap Planet is on a busy street with a lot of lunchtime foot traffic, and a professional, well-organized staff serviced the fairly large crowd that had already gathered there by noon.

It's an easy restaurant to like. Though currently independent (it's owned by Philippe Chin of Chanterelles fame), there is that presence of corporate-driven quirkiness that most of us have grown to find comforting. If Wrap Planet were a bookstore, it would be Tower; if it were a cafe, it would be XandO. The folded 5 1/2 inch by 5 1/2 inch brightly colored menu—part retro, part 2001: A Space Odyssey—looks a lot like the fun part of a new CD. All the food listed in it has precious, punny or just plain goofy names. The assortment of "Cool Planet Smoothies" (regular size $2.50; super size $3.50) features such cognomen as "Espresso Yourself," "Just Dew It," "Berry, Berry Good" and, my favorite, "Tea-Licious," made with green tea. The wraps themselves are divided into two subtle camps: "Kool Tasty Wraps" and "Hot Tasty Wraps." The kooler versions include the Italia Mangia-Mania (wrapped grilled chicken and vegetables with pesto—$4.95), the Bombay Veggie Delight (wrapped curried vegetables with lowfat coconut milk—$5.75), and the Los Angeles California Roll (wrapped seared tuna, cucumber, avocado, sticky rice in wasabi-soy dressing—$6.50).

That's another thing about these wraps—they all seem to come from someplace else. The hotter versions include the Dallas BBQ Piggly ($5.25), the Peking Just Like the Duck ($5.95) and the Louisiana Jambalaya Jam ($3.95). The exception is the Philly Cheese Steak Hoagie wrap, with whiz or not, for $5.25. Salads such as the Rome Pope Pourri or the California Green Day ($3.95-$5.25), and side dishes such as assorted rices, steamed vegetables or baked black beans ($1.25 -$2.75) are also available.

Wrap Planet is open for breakfast, and features several breakfast-oriented wraps, such as the McMuffin equivalent Good Morning America ($5.50), the New York Style Lox (wrapped smoked salmon, cream cheese, onions and tomatoes—$5.50), and the Garden State Jump Start (wrapped fruit salad, yogurt, and granola—$4.25).

I would like to alert you all to the smaller, piggyback trend that's also in the works here. Remember how cool pasta seemed when it started coming in colors other than yellow? It was like a renaissance. First there was green pasta made with spinach, then came the even more exotic varieties such as red pasta made with tomatoes or red peppers, and even black pasta made with squid ink. Tortilla fashion is now becoming similarly diversified. Wrap Planet features green spinach tortillas, red tomato tortillas and (the perhaps more bagel- than pasta-inspired) garlic, honey wheat or ginger-flavored tortillas.

Here's my anxiety: While I think wraps are nutritious, I don't believe they are necessarily wholesome. My personal feeling is that wraps represent the next frightening step in our hyper-fast, faux-frills, smirk-a-saurus consumer culture. You can't really eat curried vegetables in coconut milk while in your car, speeding to your next meeting, with one hand on the wheel and the other hand alternating between the cell phone and the potentially disastrous pile of food in your lap. But now you can! Voila le wrap, an ultra-convenient package for such third-handed (and therefore mutant) eating. Whereas a pad Thai or fajita sandwich would fall apart all over your lap, the contents of a Bangkok Thai Me Now ($5.75) or a Mexico Jumpin' Fajita ($5.75) stay snug as a bug in a rug while you cram them, wrapper and all, down your throat. It's like the meal of your dreams, only at 100 miles an hour.

My other, related suspicion is that wraps are the equivalent of baby food for adults. It's forced food regression on a mass scale. Think about it: Stage 3 baby food jars contain entire "meals" of turkey, rice and vegetables or beef and egg noodles, but pureed into a single, consumable package that is palatable for its intended audience. Now, for grownups, voila le wrap, where googobs of ingredients are thrown willynilly into a single container, but now you actually eat the glass, too.

So, even though I had a perfectly good time at Wrap Planet, I feel compelled to offer this warning:

People of Philadelphia: BEWARE THE WRAP!!!! Break free! Break free and go home! Home to those priceless and irreplaceable human beings that you love. Be nurturing and gracious!! Give them the most valuable gift there is—that of all the time in the world. While you're at it, make them a nice, old-fashioned sandwich for lunch. Better yet, prepare that sandwich of love on bread that you have taken the time to, yes, BAKE YOURSELF.

You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

Wrap Planet, 220 S. 16th St. (between Walnut and Locust), 546-5990. Open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Visa/MasterCard accepted.