Skinny, grill-pressed Italian-style sandwiches called panini, filled with meat, melted cheese, roasted peppers and other vegetables, are among the up-and-coming restaurant sandwiches.

Panini are available at Panera Bread and from the takeout section at Dorothy Lane Market in Springboro. You can make your own panini using a special electric grill, available from Sur la Table (Rookwood Commons, Norwood and www.surlatable.com) and other cookware specialty stores, beginning at about $80.

Here's a sampling of upscale restaurant sandwiches served during the lunch hour:

• Roasted beet and chevre "grilled cheese" with basil-walnut pesto at Aioli, downtown, $8.50.

• Lobster club sandwich at Maisonette, downtown, as one course in Maisonette's $20 two-course lunch.

• Smoked salmon with mascarpone cheese, red onion, lettuce, tomato and cucumber at Nicola's in Over-the-Rhine, $8.95

• Sauteed lamb loin on pita with eggplant, arugula, pine nuts, feta and kalamata olives at the Cricket in the Cincinnatian Hotel, downtown, $14.50.

Polly Campbell