Untamed Foods gets a great start in Oldtown Salinas.

I recently visited a New York pizza place in San Jose on a friend’s recommendation. It was tiny, there was no place to sit and they were out of canoli, but on a Sunday afternoon the line was out the door I thought, “This place is going to be huge.”

It reminded me of Untamed Foods, the spanking-new panini bar in Oldtown Salinas. This is the real deal, a distinctive little gem where the quality is high and the prices are modest. Chef Eileen Chase, who opened the tiny café in December with her husband Michael, brings a palpable commitment to quality to the project. Everything is fresh and flavorful and clearly well thought-out. That combination of intelligence and work ethic doesn’t usually miss. And indeed, a steady flow of customers came through the matchbox-sized storefront during a recent Thursday lunch hour.

To test the logo’s claim (“Food for foodies”), I brought along one of the big guns, a chef friend of mine. We claimed one of the two tables inside (a lot of the business is carryout or delivery) and set about deciding what to order.

We had to agree it all looked good. The central concept, of course, is the panini, a sandwich grilled in a device much like a waffle iron. The breakfast paninis ($5-$6.50) include inventive combinations like peanut butter, raspberry sauce, bananas and chocolate, or lox, eggs, crème fraiche and pesto. There are also breakfast burritos ($5.50) with choice of ham, bacon or sausage. For lighter appetites Chase has made assorted homemade scones and muffins.

But it’s in the selection of lunchtime paninis that Untamed Foods really shines. Five special classics ($6)—three of which are vegetarian—are the stars of the menu, featuring foodie catnip like grilled portabellas, caramelized onions, pesto and roasted garlic aioli. The panini bar ($6.50) allows patrons to orchestrate their own masterpieces from an extensive selection of gourmet meats, cheeses and spreads. Think prosciutto, mortadella, Black Forest Ham, fontina, goat cheese, arugula, roasted eggplant and tapenade. A small array of intriguing deli salads ($3.50), a build-your-own green salad using toppings from the panini bar ($5-6) and soup of the day ($3.50/ $6) round out the menu.

We started with the soup, which happened to be split pea that day. What a beautifully balanced, flavorful creation. Split pea soup is often thick and gloppy and overwhelmed by the smoky flavor of whatever meat was added to trick people into eating green mush. But this was light and silky with just a hint of bacon and subtle shadings of other seasonings. It was a really lovely soup, and my friend pronounced it the best split pea she’d ever had. Coming from a chef, that means a lot.

We chose two classic paninis to split. Both came warm, on freshly grilled, crusty bread with melting cheese and luscious fillings. The Goat Cheese and Roasted Bell Pepper was served on thick Ciabatta that slowly absorbed the fresh pesto and olive tapenade. The tapenade was a really nice touch, adding to the overall sense of understated richness. That helps make for a very satisfying vegetarian sandwich.

But the Zee Untamed Sandwich knocked my socks off. Here was a warm roast beef-and-cheddar sandwich with a twist, or rather several: horseradish, red onion, garlic aioli and the Argentinean condiment chimichurri, a savory concoction of vinegar, parsley, garlic and other herbs. There were so many nuances to this sandwich—a hint of horseradish here, some garlic there—and all surprisingly compatible. It was unusually delicious and I finished it all even though I was too full for that.

We had hoped to try the Asian green bean salad with sesame oil and chile flakes, but it was out, so we sampled the French potato salad instead. I liked the flavors—Dijon vinaigrette, red onion, parsley and tarragon made for a profile that was mostly piquant with a nice mellow note—but found the red potatoes a little undercooked for my liking, while my friend wondered if this was yesterday’s salad.

We looked past the tantalizing selection of gourmet candies and chocolate, finishing instead with strong and very tasty coffee graciously hand-brewed by Chase herself, as the coffee maker was broken. Those are the touches that keep people coming back—and the high standards to which Untamed Foods clearly holds itself. I’d buy stock in it if I could.

Untamed Foods Panini Bar & Café

8 West Gabilan, Salinas • 7am-3pm Mon-Fri • 758-0588