Makers of Lamonte Gelato roll out Tuscan-inspired sandwich concept, A Mano Panino

Husband-and-wife restauranteurs, Alex and Ashley Lamonte, owners of East Hill’s popular Lamonte Gelato and founders of TROUBADOUR Dining, are continuing to bring a slice of Italy to Pensacola with their new café concept, A Mano Panino. After a soft opening stage, the Tuscan-inspired panini concept celebrated its grand opening on Friday inside of the historic Sacred Heart Hospital on 12th Avenue.

A restaurant dreamed up by their travels to Italy, the two were captivated by the small street sandwich shops with customers lined out the door, lured in by the tantalizing smell of freshly baked bread spilling into the streets.

“When we were walking through Florence, everything smells like fresh bread. It's just magical. And so, we just wanted to bring a little bit of that back home,” Ashley Lamonte said. “With the gelato shop, we thought it was perfect with the sandwiches, it's a perfect pairing. So, we always want these two concepts ideally to be paired together, because we feel like they complement each other.”

Like the small batch artisanal gelato that the couple launched early last year, ranging in rich flavors like amaretto black cherry and fiore di latte (vanilla bean), the sandwiches are crafted under the same high standards. Everything is made from scratch, aside from the meats, which are sourced for the highest quality, many of which are imported overseas.

The menu is built around the house made schiacciata bread, a Tuscan bread, made daily, that comes out steaming hot to order.

The schiacciata-based sandwiches are known as fast-casual Italian street food, and the Lamontes tend to carry on the same speedy service without compromising the quality, with the sandwiches able to be made in a minute or so.

But unlike in Italy, where the street sandwich shops lack indoor seating and you usually eat it while walking, customers can use the tables inside of the gelato shop and outdoor courtyard for seating, and even follow-up their lunch with a bite of gelato after. But if you are in a hurry, El Mano Panino allows you to order online and pick up your sandwich curbside, faster than it would take to order a Publix Pub Sub, they teased.

But if you choose to stay a while, the shop now offers coffee, sandwiches and gelato, with a beer and wine license in the works, providing plenty of options.

While the sandwiches are hearty, 7-by-7-inches and sliced in half, the freshness of the ingredients are meant to leave you feeling light and well-nourished.

The two plan to take the Americanized perception of sandwiches to the next level, with chef-curated recipes and flavor pairings. Each sandwich’s flavor profile is matched to an Italian classical music term.

“We really see a parallel between culinary arts and music, and so it's just a fun way to use music as a way to give expression to things,” Alex Lamonte said.

Sandwiches like the #9 Delicato, the shop’s signature vegan option, made of balsamic roasted eggplant, marinated zucchini, sunflower seed and arugula pesto and giardiniera relish, are a lighter, gentler version of the house sandwiches as opposed to one of the heavier, denser meats, giving it the "delicate" feeling, the Lamontes described.

Or the #3 “L’Obbligato,” which is the essential, obligatory part of a piece of music, which the two interpret as the sandwich that you can’t miss and is obligatory to try if you visit A Mano Panino, made with prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato and grana padano spread, sliced tomato and basil.

A closer look at the A Mano Panino menu:

There are 10 signature sandwiches on the A Mano Panino menu, including one vegan option and one vegetarian option. As of right now, the shop does not have a gluten-free bread option, as they are making all of the bread from scratch but may have one in the future.

While they are all crafted with care, here are a few sandwiches the Lamontes suggest keeping an eye on:

"Da Copa"

Ingredients: Copocollo, pecorino and porcini spread, marinated zucchini, arugula and sliced tomato.

“It (copocollo) is a cured meat from the neck of the pork, and it’s almost like a salami or a prosciutto, but you see a lot of beautiful marbling and it’s super nice,” Alex Lamonte said.

"II Maestoso"

Ingredients" Porchetta, giardiniera relish, marinated zucchini, garlic and artichoke spread and arugula

“It’s roasted pork, usually belly, that’s rolled…it’s covered with herbs and then roasted,” Alex Lamonte said.

“Then we slice it super thin. I mean, it’s absolutely delicious,” Ashley Lamonte said.

"II Trovatore"

Ingredients: Finocchiona, balsamic roasted eggplant, robiola spread, arugula and fig jam.

“Trovatore, that means 'Troubadour' in Italian. So that's just a nod and there's still a musical parallel,” Ashley Lamonte said.

“I think there's some unique ingredients in that sandwich that kind of go beyond our traditional, a little more experimental…I think it's kind of similar to what we would create in a Troubadour dish that is in sandwich form. And so, I think it's a nice little nod to that side of creativity,” Alex Lamonte said.

Where can I find more information?

Follow A Mano Panino on Facebook for more updates and information. A Mano Panino is located at 1010 N. 12 Avenue on the De Soto side of the building. Current hours for A Mano Panino are 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. but may be extended.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: A Mano Panino debuts craft Tuscan sandwiches in East Hill