On a cold morning in early January, the plate-glass windows at Massimo’s Cucina Italiana framed a gray scene. Heavy clouds threatened snow as pedestrians trudged through a slushy mix toward the Penobscot County Courthouse in Bangor.

But inside, the atmosphere was decidedly warmer. The aroma of baking bread and the whoosh of frothing milk for cappuccino filled the air. Though the restaurant wouldn’t open for another five hours, chef Massimo Ranni and his wife, Anne Marie, welcomed a pair of curious visitors who wanted a peek at the evening’s menu. Later, a seafood dealer arrived, bearing heavy sacks of mussels just plucked from the waters off Prince Edward Island.

Though Massimo and his staff had to prepare for the dinner rush, the pace was leisurely, relaxed. The Italians have a word for this: piacere. It means pleasure, and it imbues everything Ranni does.

“At the end of the night, I like to go around to the tables and have a glass of wine with my customers,” Massimo said, sipping an espresso. “My goal is to see them happy. They’re supposed to feel happy here. We don’t want to sell food. We want them to come in, have a good time and meet with the family. That’s what we want.”

In a little less than two months’ time, Massimo’s has become a gathering place. It’s not uncommon to see old friends reconnecting over a glass of chianti, nibbling a thin-crust pizza or splitting an order of homemade fettuccini.

“We see people sharing dishes, and we want people to feel like they’re in a family,” Ranni said. “We’ve created this kind of place so they can sit down and enjoy. It’s dining out. Why do you go out? It’s a pleasure. You don’t go out because you have to feed yourself. Otherwise, just grab a piece of beef jerky on the street.”

For Ranni, a native of Italy, food as pleasure is a way of life. Today, he and Anne Marie make it a point to sit down and savor breakfast, lunch and dinner together. He learned the finer points of baking from his grandmother, who owned a bakery outside Rome, while his father worked as a butcher. He moved to the United States 10 years ago and opened a bakery and later a restaurant, Il Forno, in Montclair, N.J.

The Newark Star-Ledger named Il Forno one of New Jersey’s “Top 25 Tastes.” Massimo’s breads earned raves from Andrea Higbie of The New York Times, who wrote “Mr. Ranni turns unbleached flour, salt and water into luxuriously dense Italian breads and slices of pizza.”

But Higbie wasn’t the only one to be wooed by Ranni’s culinary mastery. Anne Marie, who worked in private-label development for Macy’s, walked into his bakery on her way home from work one day. Ranni jokes that he noticed her Armani shirt right away. She kept stopping by for bread – you could say it was love at first bite – and the rest, as they say, is history.

Before long, so was New Jersey.

Last summer, the Rannis were ready for a change of scenery, and because Massimo had always been attracted to New England, they headed north. The couple had vacationed in southern Maine and loved it, but when they arrived in Bangor, it felt like home.

“I just liked it,” Massimo said. “I liked the way it’s built. I like the city feel.”

He also liked the farmers markets, the fresh seafood and the fact that the people he met were real “foodies.” When the couple drove by the vacant restaurant space on Hammond Street, which most recently housed the Courtyard Grille, they were sold.

“People here love food,” Massimo said. “It’s a great feeling to move somewhere where a lot of people do organic, you find fresh cheese, vegetables and produce. We don’t miss anything. … This really is an amazing town.”

He knew Bangor was a place where people would appreciate his style of cooking, which is heavily influenced by his Roman roots. The menu showcases simple yet sumptuous cuisine – great ingredients prepared slowly, lovingly.

“I like to represent food in the way we do it there,” Ranni said. “We try to do it the right way.”

Massimo recruited his sous chef from Il Forno, Adriano Barrento, and hired a friend who designed some of Manhattan’s hottest restaurants to revamp the interior. A marble-topped bar, dark tiger wood floors, glass tile accents and soft terra-cotta walls give the space a hip yet cozy feel.

But while the atmosphere is welcoming, it’s the food that keeps people coming back. Yes, there’s lasagna on the menu. But tripe and polenta might show up on the specials list. Massimo’s pane casareccio – a rustic, homestyle bread – has attracted such a following that he’s already thinking about opening a bakery.

On a recent evening, Ranni tossed a flaming pan of zuppa di cozze (mussels in a fragrant white wine and tomato broth). A man passed the bar, and a giant plate of fork-tender osso buco – a braised veal shank that was one of the evening’s specials – caught his eye.

“I think it’s time,” Massimo explained. “Slow cooking, doing everything that way, you get more flavor.”

A few regulars wandered in, and as Anne Marie led them to their tables, Massimo called out to them from the kitchen and raised his glass in a toast “Salut!”

Later in the evening, he walked from table to table, greeting customers like they were old friends. When they left, he took their hands and, smiling, said a single word: Piacere.

Massimo’s opens at 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday and is closed Monday. Reservations are accepted for parties of seven or more, but smaller parties may call 45 minutes ahead of time to get their name on the waiting list. For information, call 945-5600 or visit www.massimoscucinaitaliana.com.