Your surroundings are sometimes more important than what you’re eating, especially if it’s just a sandwich. And sometimes, even if it’s just a candy bar, interesting surroundings can fade away as you discover a new taste sensation. At the Revival House Cinema & CafŽ, way down in the wilds of Westerly, they understand how that goes back and forth. While movies are the main business — coming attractions are at www.revivalhouse.net — taste treats are important lures in the afternoon.

Free samples of one temptation were broken into a saucer when we were there: dark chocolate with an eventual back-of-the-throat glow from ancho and chipotle chilis. (The taste is free; the whole bar of Voges is six bucks. The advantage is that they don’t leave track marks.) Emily Steffian and her husband, Daniel Kamil, who majored in film and theater, opened the doors in November 2003 and have been tinkering ever since with what they offer. Films are the mainstay in the 50-seat theater, but there are dozens of two-person tables in front of the screen as well as bistro seating out front. The tables are just big enough to hold sandwiches and munchies that would do a Cheech and Chong Festival proud.

Did I say sandwiches? No, no, no. Panini, those Italian treats that are to grilled cheese what Leonardos are to Norman Rockwells. Emily says she experimented with various kinds of breads. For a while they used baguettes, but there’s crisp crust and there’s glass shards, she says. Nowadays, they get ciabatta rolls from La Brea in Los Angeles. You can see the day’s supply of fat, plastic-wrapped potential panini in the cold case when you walk in. Hot-pressed, they settle into more manageable shape, no longer looking like an over-stuffed handful of roast beef from Walt’s and more like a Neapolitan street snack, crisp on the outside yet not gummy on the inside from squooshing.

There were a half-dozen kinds on the chalkboard when we visited on a weeknight. All are $5.50 (prices include tax), and they ranged from pastrami and Swiss with Thousand Island dressing, to a light tomato and basil with mozzarella. Other varieties include one with turkey, baby spinach, and brie, and another with an olive tapenade. For an extra buck and a half, you can get mesclun salad on the plate; ours were fresh, with a tangy vinaigrette. Hold the sandwich and get a big entrée salad for $6.95, with baby spinach and cranberries.

Johnnie had the Santa FŽ turkey with cheddar and tomato, and while she said she’d have liked more turkey, she loved the delicate hotness sprinkled on the meat. We later learned that the blend was Daniel’s own preparation, as was the thick tomato soup I had ($4.95), which contained pieces of tomato and fresh basil leaves, topped with grated cheese. My sandwich was the grilled chicken with ham, both of which were tasty and merged nicely with the fontina.

My favorite appetite-filler ended up being the cheese platter we had during the movie. Served in small and large versions ($6.95 and $11.95), the former can be any of a rotating variety of cheeses, with meat added to the bigger one. Ours had thick slabs of brie, triangles of fontina and a small wheel of what might have been blue Stilton, plus thick slices of turkey. Thin, crisp crostini were provided, though hot bread is sometimes served. The meat of opportunity can be black pepper-salami and cheese options can include smoked gouda and chèvre, so ask if you have preferences or aversions. We especially enjoyed the olives, tiny marinated picholines that evening.

Of course, there’s a good selection of beer and wine by the glass, and sodas, too. There’s a chocolate stout and a raspberry Belgian ale, as well as Rolling Rock and Newport Storm. I liked their New Zealand sauvignon blanc (Oyster Bay), and their Australian Shiraz isn’t the omnipresent Rosemont, but the more interesting Jackaroo. (You can check out their wine and beer lists online.) In addition to Classic Coke, you may get a Kombucha Wonder Drink or sample the flavors in the Fizzy Lizzy line. No same ol’ here.

For dessert, Johnnie couldn’t resist a brownie ($2.50), with cream cheese swirl, and I had baklava ($2.75), a big triangle that was kept in the realm of finger-food by having its honey moistening the chopped nut layers rather than soaking the top. Both were house-made, as are the chocolate-chip muffin cookies that Emily described to us with pride: cookie dough baked in a muffin tin, so that they are big and crisp on the outside, but soft on the inside. I miss them, and I haven’t even tasted one.

You prefer ice cream? How about Ciao Bella gelato? Emily and Daniel sure know how to feed a face and leave it smiling. Oh, and by the way: Thoroughly Modern Millie is a stitch on the screen as well as on the stage.