Greek-born Manos Vernicos has got used to the English weather since he arrived in the country 22 years ago at the age of 13. But he still yearned to create the kind of place that he remembers from his childhood in Greece, where customers can buy homemade dishes, which are laid out in trays on the counter.

He said: "There are dozens of shops on every corner which sell freshly-made trays of food and things like cheese. You can either take it home, or you go outside, or downstairs to some tables.

"We don't have a name for it in English, but that's exactly what I am creating here."

Here' is Walton Street, Oxford, opposite Raymond Blanc's bistro Brasserie Blanc and a few hundred yards nearer the centre of town than his first shop, Bunter's, in Hayfield Road.

Bunter's was run by Mr Vernicos's father, Nicolas, until he died 16 years ago.

Since then, Manos has introduced more Greek food like olive oil and wines, plus sandwiches and hot soup.

He said: "I created Nic's Foods, named after him, and it was extremely successful, but I had to wind it down because we couldn't cope with the demand. I wanted to do a restaurant set-up and it wasn't possible. Now I am going to do it. The shop is called Manos. It isn't exactly a cafe - I think of cafes as selling sausages and chips, that kind of thing. We will sell tea and coffee, fresh juice and smoothies and organic products.

"There is a sandwich place opposite, so we won't do sandwiches, but we will do souvlakia - a wrap with tzaziki, salad and chargrilled chicken, for example."

The new fresh food bar will also stock Bunter's soup, which is already made each day in eight varieties. As well as Greek and Turkish specialities such as plaki beans and imam (an aubergine dish), yoghurt, olives, feta and haloumi cheeses, nearly a third of the stock will be Polish and Hungarian foods, because Mr Vernicos's girlfriend, Marcsi Dienes, is Hungarian.

By chance, the shop they are leasing - a former fitted kitchen supplier - was once Joe's Cafe, and was run by a Pole.

He said: "It's a sort of Greek tapas bar. There is a word in Greek - mezethopolio - but it's not translatable. We cook 85 per cent of the food on the premises and the rest is from Bunter's.

"We have sofas, the papers, coffee and croissants, so that it's a pleasant place to relax. It's somewhere to go and eat when you don't want to go to a restaurant."

In keeping with the tapas idea, underneath the shop is a basement eating area with a North African feel, showing art and jewellery from local artists. The staff is cosmopolitan as well.

He said: "I want to stock local products, particularly fruit and vegetables, and the humous will be locally produced by a friend of mine."

The Greek sweets will be made by Yanis Tsakirias, who runs the Greek shop Meli, in the Cowley Road.

Mr Vernicos has a licence to serve alcohol and will aim to supply "slightly more upmarket wines."

He said: "I want to be a bit different, so we are not competing with other businesses. Glutton's deli is near, and I am not going to be selling cheese, apart from feta and haloumi."

His market research has included parents of children at St Philip and St James School, which is near Bunter's.

"So far, the feedback has been quite amazing," he said. He also encourages local mothers to make their particular speciality - brownies or samosas - for him to sell in the shop.

"It's not an ongoing thing, necessarily. It's a bit like a farmer's market but with a roof."

He also wants Manos' to have a child-friendly feel.

Mr Vernicos added: "I remember as a kid running around restaurants in Greece. I think it would be really great to have something like that here."

After leaving Cherwell School, Mr Vernicos started a business and tourism course at the then Oxford Polytechnic, but never finished it.

He said: "I had to do a practical project, which was Bunter's, and I carried on with it. and never went back to college."

However, he did take marketing advice about the sign outside his new venture, which will read: "Manos: Fresh-Food Bar and Continental Deli."

If Manos' is a success, he has plenty of plans for the future.

"I have loads of ideas. I would still like a restaurant at a later stage. This is a step in that direction. It gives me more time to learn.

"I'm the type of character who is not academic - things don't sink in properly if I am not doing something.

"I have made enough mistakes for 16 years - I am not repeating them now, so I must have learned something. I don't think it will take me 16 years next time I start a new venture."

n Manos Vernicos on 01865 557135