Antico

The address on the database record — 61 Old Compton St, Soho — sits at some distance from where Antico actually operated: Bermondsey Street, Southwark, in a converted antique warehouse with exposed brick walls, a ground-floor bar, and a lower dining room that filled quickly and loudly on busy evenings. That neighbourhood context mattered. When Antico opened in April 2012, Bermondsey Street was mid-transition, a stretch of independent food and drink spots gaining traction south of London Bridge, and the restaurant arrived as part of that momentum rather than despite it. The kitchen, supervised by Theo Randall and led by head chef Nicholas Schizas under owner Nick Crispini, kept its focus narrow: traditional Italian cooking built around fresh pasta, with no pizza on the menu. Reported dishes ranged from beef ragu and cod to scallop carpaccio with chives and lime, monkfish, lamb rump, and caponata with mint oil — a repertoire that leaned on classical technique without chasing novelty. The three-course lunch set, recorded at £19, placed the restaurant firmly in the mid-range for London, with a per-head lunch bill of around £28 confirmed by at least one contemporary review. Critics responded with warmth rather than fanfare. One reviewer called it "very enjoyable"; another used the word "gem," a signal of genuine affection from a neighbourhood audience rather than destination-dining hype. No major awards appear in the record. Antico closed on 24 September 2017, after five and a half years of service — a run that, in the context of London's restaurant attrition rate, represents a meaningful tenure for an independent Italian at that price point.