We take a first look at Glasgow Southside's latest Italian Cibo on Victoria Road in Govanhill

But the newest kid on the block is determined to stand out from the crowd – thanks to ambitious ideas and decades of experience.

For the past few months Michael Onorati has been hard at work transforming a shop unit into what will be Cibo – an Italian deli and restaurant.

The 39-year-old promises high quality, authentic Italian food, just like his father used to make.

Michael takes inspiration from his dad, Massimo, who ran Roma Mia in Pollokshields until Michael took over the business in 2008.

He said: “My dad cam here in 1973 and has always been in hospitality - in 1998 he got a knighthood from the Italian government for truly representing Italian food in a foreign land.

“I started working with my dad in Roma Mia in 1998 and all the staff were Italian, the food was authentic, no pizzas, and I just developed a passion for it.

“It was a traditional, old school Italian restaurant with all the same regulars and I just developed a passion for it all.”

Michael had some fairly basic tastes before joining his dad’s business, saying that, as a teenager, “if it wasn’t a Findus crispy pancake then I wasn’t interested”.

But he was quickly won round to the food he saw being served from the Roma Mia kitchen: “beautiful king prawns, lobster, lemon sole. Veal dishes, all kinds of pasta. It was amazing.”

And he also found his other passion.

“Roma Mia had a proper coffee machine,” he says, “And I found a passion for making and drinking copious amounts of coffee, which is pretty much my only vice.

“My passion for coffee and my knowledge has continued to grow.”

When Michael took over Roma Mia in 2008 he also began to learn to cook. He sold the business in 2013 and moved to a new venue over the border in East Renfrewshire.

While the restaurant was a success, it left Michael yearning for a return to what he had had before – and a three-year search for the perfect new premises began.

He said: “I had busier footfall in the new restaurant but we had closer relationships with the customers in Pollokshields.

“People would come in to see me and my dad for the good food and the wine and we knew everyone.

“The amount of people that I’ve served who had first dates there. Once a couple came in with their daughter and said ‘She was conceived after Roma Mia’.

“I met kids in there from when they were born and then they came to work for me. It was like a big family, it was fantastic.”

The “perfect building” came in the form of the new premises on Victoria Road, thanks to local businessman Bruno Gargaro.

Michael and his business partner Ross McGill knew it was the right place thanks to the location on Victoria Road.

He said: “This is the perfect thing because we’re very close to where the old restaurant was and I’m meeting customers from 20 years ago asking when we are going to be back open.

“In the past few years the Queen’s Park, Govanhill, Strathbungo area has just soared.

“Being on Victoria Road is good fun. Just coming here in the morning and having coffee and just watching everyone going past... it’s not like being in Scotland.

“My friends come down and we just sit. It’s a brilliant buzz, there’s so many characters in the area. It’s a grand road and it’s up-and-coming.

“But Victoria Road and the Southside is crying out for a proper, authentic Italian restaurant.”

Michael acknowledges the competition is tough but he’s convinced he has what the area needs.

In addition to setting up the restaurant, he’s been working with young people in St Ninian’s High School in Kirkintilloch to train them how to make coffee and run a cafe.

And he said he hopes to give young people work experience when Cibo opens with a view to hiring them if they have talent.

He also has bold ambitions to team up with a local school and curate trips to third world countries where coffee is produced.

As coffee is his other passion, Michael has developed a special Govanhill United roast, made by roasters We Love Coffee, to celebrate the area.

And his house blend will be called Valentina, in honour of his daughter.

He added: People in Govanhill are extremely passionate about the area and want to make improvements so I thought the name Govanhill United was appropriate - bringing people together.

“My dad and all the old Italians, if you tried to give them our type of coffee they would throw it at you. What’s this, perfume with flowers? They like strong coffee. But that’s an old school thing.

“Colombian is my favourite and my house blend is single origin Colombian named Valentina, after my daughter.”

Michael is working with his friend Keiran Hesketh of KP Joinery to fit out the shop ahead of a mid-November opening date.

It will sell Italian artisan food packages and seasonal produce direct from Rome with a retail section, as well as the deli and sit-in space.

He also is aiming to get a licence to sell regional wines and plans to hold classes in the evenings, such as Italian lessons.

But his ultimate aim is to become a well-known part of the Southside community again.

He added: “I’m bringing really authentic, highest quality I can get cured meats and Italian cheeses.

“We’ll be doing a breakfast, a traditional Italian breakfast, we’ll have fresh pastries made and selling pastas you can’t get anywhere but Italy.

“Our Italian lessons will be paired with food so it’s fun, it’s much easier learning things when it’s paired with something you like - and Italians love food.

“If they’re shouting, it’s probably something about food.”

But Michael’s ultimate ambition?

“I want people to walk by and know my name,” he added.