Best salad bar
We know it sounds corny, but there's something about the carefully tended salad bar at Whole Foods that gives us hope for the future - and not just the future of our waistlines. Actually, it's akin to the optimism evoked by a flourishing garden, a quasi-Buddhist sense of deep-rooted connection between our environment and our well-being. Here the vegetables are ever-abundant and sparkling-fresh; the prepared grain- and bean-based salads reflect global influences (Greek, Israeli, Mexican); and the dressings and toppings prove casually gourmet. All that and take-out convenience too - it's a lovely reminder that fast food can still be slow food.

Boasting potato salad, hummus, cottage cheese, tuna, turkey, and at least three pasta salads (including cheese tortelloni and peanut noodle) - plus eight or nine choices of dressing and such funky toppings as wonton strips and granola - the salad bar at Souper Salad is not for the dainty. Indeed, what with several locations in the Boston area's most bustling business districts, you can bet the regulars are those who dash over from their brokerage firms and law offices seeking just the right combo of protein and fat to meet the energy needs of their high-pressure jobs. Because, really, how far in life is lettuce gonna getcha?

Whole Foods, various locations, www.wholefoods.com; Souper Salad, various locations, www.soupersalad.com.