Two-dimensional (2D) ''chaotic'' localized structures are observed in
the transverse profile of light with a delay model of a ring cavity wi
th strongly dispersive two-level atoms. Near nascent optical bistabili
ty, the 2D homogeneous solution undergoes a subcritical transition to
a spatiotemporal chaos. The inhomogeneous pattern coexisting with the
homogeneous solution is filled with large-intensity peaks, oscillating
with time. In the subcritical domain, localized structures are observ
ed, with isolated peaks more stable and more coherent than the ones in
the filled structure. The order is easily recovered by a filtering pr
ocedure that reduces the wavevector bandwidth.