IT'S THE STAFF OF LIFE ... AND LUNCH.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

You can almost smell that fresh-baked bread before you get there.

Just the idea is enough to make the olfactory senses tingle with anticipation.

Yet it's really quite simple.

Think of sliced, warm focaccia bread, newly baked, straight out of the oven ready to form sandwiches with your favorite makings.

The new Stone Oven in Topanga Plaza's food court does exactly that.

Stone Oven promises that batches of freshly baked bread emerge from its view oven every 15 minutes.

This works very well during the lunch hours when the food stand is at its busiest.

In fact there's usually a line of hungry lunchers waiting patiently as the plastic gloved sandwich makers, more precise than fast, construct them carefully.

However, during slower times, noticeably in the evening when sandwiches alone are not fulfilling enough as a dinner meal for most Americans, the focaccia may have been out of the oven longer. Consequently, it could be losing some of its just-made, right-out-of-the-oven characteristics, its main source of attraction.

Don't get me wrong. These are still nicely crafted, good-tasting sandwiches. But one can't help but compare the superb just-baked with the good recently baked.

Salads are also available. Each sandwich is presented on a black plastic plate with a small green salad specked with diced tomato.

My favorite sandwich of several tried is definitely the spicy chicken offering ($5.45). This one contains sliced avocado, black bean and corn salsa and cubes of moist, spicy chicken covered in melted provolone cheese. The spiciness is enhanced by a chipotle mayonnaise and balanced by the texture and taste of the refreshing salsa.

A milder, but almost as good version is the sweetish barbecued chicken at the same price. This one has bacon, melted cheddar cheese, sugary caramelized onions and regular mayonnaise.

Incidentally, there are several flavored mayos (sun-dried tomato, basil, garlic, pineapple and chipotle) that may be chosen for the more traditional sandwiches ($5.95 each) like pastrami, roast beef, turkey and straight chicken breast. You also get a choice of cheese with these.

But like the preferred barbecued chicken sandwich, there's a similarly satisfying one with a melted cheddar and caramelized onion accompaniment that, instead of chicken, features warm honey-baked ham plus the pineapple-flavored mayonnaise.

Of the cold sandwiches, there are a couple of decent chicken breast options ($5.45 each). One has Thai flavorings and another with roma tomatoes and the sun-dried tomato pesto mayo.

And yep, there's peanut butter and jelly ($3.50).

Other possibilities worth experiencing are a BLT with Cajun shrimp ($5.95) and a curried tuna salad sandwich ($5.45).

Because they come with a small portion of salad, unless you're extra hungry it doesn't make sense to order a separate salad with a sandwich here.

If you must, the regular Caesar ($4.45), a respectable rendition, appears to be the most appropriate.

And thankfully, there are a few more wedges of that wonderful warm focaccia, right out of the oven, we hope, perched provocatively atop the salad.

STONE OVEN

Where: Topanga Plaza, food court, southeast corner Topanga Canyon and Victory boulevards, Woodland Hills.

Phone: [phone].

When: Open for lunch, dinner and snacks from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Recommended items: Spicy chicken sandwich, barbecued chicken sandwich, honey-baked ham sandwich, Thai chicken sandwich, Caesar salad.

How much: Sandwiches from $3.50 to $6, salads $6 and $6.50. No alcohol. Cash only, no credit cards.

Our rating: three stars for food.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Danny Rowley tends to the focaccia at Stone Oven in the Topanga Plaza food court, where a variety of sandwiches come forth on the delectable, freshly baked bread.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer