Last week, our spies spotted a new aperitivo bar on the old Cookhouse Joe site in Soho, opened without any PR fuss – so we were straight down for a look.
RustiKo (Italian for ‘rustic’, but the interior is also riddled with rust, hence the typo) keeps thing simple with a classic Italian cocktail menu and complimentary aperitivi from 4-10pm every day, as is Italian tradition.
There’s a bar, stools and a few alfresco tables at the front, while towards the rear things become dimly lit and cosy with leather Chesterfield sofas, small wooden tables and candles. Rusted ceiling panels cast the room in a bronze glow, while up the spiral staircase there is another, brighter bar with more sofas and simple furnishings.
RustiKo marks the return of Tony Micallef to Soho, who locals with a long memory may remember as the owner of Pulcinella in the nineties. We met the manager, also called Tony (with experience at Caprice Holdings), who explained that the opening was incredibly quick: “Three weeks ago I was approached and asked to handle the opening of RustiKo, from a shell to what you see now…then I was told I had two weeks in which to do it!” The whole operation does feel thrown together, but also relaxed and welcoming – classic Soho.
Cocktails range from £7-8 and the small list majors in the classics: Campari or Aperol Spritz, a RustiKo Negroni, or the fresh and vibrant Bellini and Rossini that we tried, which were keenly priced, too. There also Italian wines (including Prosecco, of course), mostly by the glass, Champagne, beers and ciders, plus small aperitivi to munch on, such as tomato and mozzarella on bread. With a kitchen on-site, we were told to expect larger plates of sliders, calamari and more starting later this week.
There’s been much written lately about the corporate sanitisation of Soho, so the team are keen to stress that RustiKo is independently owned and in keeping with the area’s Italian heritage. It’s definitely got bags of character and we’d recommend it for whiling away an evening with a long Italian drink or two.
This article was published 4 August 2015