'Ino is coming to Prospect and punters can expect an Italian-style deli with garden-fresh ingredients.

John-Paul Romeo says the idea to open up a panini bar has been a “few years in the making”.

After opening The Cannoli Box Co. in Prospect five years ago, John-Paul says he’s “always been a little bit nervous, especially with the whole financial crisis and how everything’s going at the moment”.

“We were scared to make that next leap,” he says.

“More so just having another lease, mortgage; we just had a baby, whether or not it was in the right spot, staffing, all that sort of stuff — a lot of factors.

“For The Cannoli Box side, we do a lot of events so our time’s being taken from doing those things, which have been really busy for us, so we’ve put this off but we feel like now is the right time, considering the panini market is blowing up.”

Briscola cards are ready for a game at ‘ino

Opening in September next door to The Cannoli Box Co. on Churchill Road, ‘ino — which is panino abbreviated — will work cohesively with the already established café.

“So, The Cannoli Box will be a separate business to ‘ino. There’s going to be a hole in the wall for our staff members to be able to bring coffee or cannoli through to ‘ino,” John-Paul says.

“If someone wants to order from The Cannoli Box, they can go into The Cannoli Box. Or if someone wants to order from ‘ino, they can dine in or take away from ‘ino as well.

“And then they can utilise both seating outside of ‘ino as well or outside of The Cannoli Box.”

John-Paul says ‘ino with be offering authentic Italian sandwiches.

“We’re still finalising the menu at the moment, we’re halfway through it [but] we’re doing the traditional generic paninis like the prosciutto, the mortadella,” he says.

“Then there’ll be traditional southern Italian meatballs [stuffed in a bread pocket] with recipes from my grandparents.

“Then there’ll be like a cotoletta focaccia, like all those types of things.”

The fillings will be inside either “crunchy ciabatta” or a “traditional focaccia” served fresh or toasted.

John-Paul understands that sandwiches are all the rage and believes his focus on fresh produce – which he has learnt from his Italian heritage – will contribute to his point of difference.

“So growing up I was lucky enough to have four different sets of grandparents, as well as my great grandparents,” he says.

“They always role-modelled having market gardens and growing organic fruit and veg and things like that.

“I guess our point of difference is having fresh ingredients, definitely organic, homegrown from grandparents as well.”

John-Paul says his Italian heritage has been “a huge part of” why he has opened his businesses.

The interior also reflects Italy.

“We’ve decided to go with pops of Italian red marble, with Tasmanian oak cabinetry,” John-Paul says.

“In terms of the fit-out, we had to utilise our space as much as we could.

“So originally, the floor was just a concrete floor, and we’ve ground it and pumped it back to give it that terrazzo warmth.

“And then the back seating, decided to go the cherry red to blend in with the red counters and give it that warm feel as well.”

‘ino is located at 102 Churchill Road, Prospect and is set to open in September.

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