Bar Caput, a Roman-inspired neighbourhood bar serving thin and crispy pizza, now occupies the Great Underbank unit that was home to Cantaloupe, a bistro that earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand before its owners closed it after just four months to change the concept.
A rapid rise to recognition
Chefs Joshua Reed-Cooper and Mike Thomas opened Cantaloupe in November 2024 in the same unit, offering simple Mediterranean-style dishes with wines and cocktails. Despite a small kitchen and basic equipment, the bistro quickly impressed the local food scene and caught the attention of the Michelin Guide.
Within six months, Cantaloupe was added to the Michelin Inspectors' Favourite New Restaurants guide, later named in the Good Food Guide, and in February this year awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand for great value for money. Dishes such as sausage ragu rigatoni, duck breast with fig, and an onion tart won widespread support.
The decision to close
Just four months after the Bib Gourmand award, the owners announced they would close. In a social media post, they wrote: "Over the past 18 months we’ve sated hunger with countless different dishes, utilising all manner of fish, fowl, beast or vegetable; we’ve quenched thirsts with one of the most interesting wine lists in the region and many many cocktails."
They added: "And of course we were equally proud of the Good Food Guide Top 100 listing, and the Michelin BIb Gourmand, all from a kitchen 75cm by 3 metres 15, with subpar equipment."
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Joshua and Mike explained: "One problem at Cantaloupe was that we opened with very few resources (a lot of the restaurant was built by us), and as a result we couldn't change the space that much. The layout and size of the kitchen was extremely challenging, and it relied heavily on both of us to always be there. We wanted to change the concept to something which we believed in, but that would not be so reliant on us being there daily."
A new Roman-inspired concept
At the end of summer this year, they unveiled Bar Caput, a more relaxed Roman-inspired bar and kitchen built around thin and crispy Pizza Romana Tonda, fritti, Osteria-style dishes, interesting wines, and Italian-inspired cocktails. The pair met while working at Where The Light Gets In in Stockport and built experience at restaurants including Mana, Sterling, Tine, and The Creameries.
"The decision to close Cantaloupe was not arrived at easily. We felt we were welcomed into the Stockport scene with open arms, and we had, over the time that we'd been open, amassed a large amount of regular guests," they said. "We were pretty sure that we wanted Caput to be a take on a Roman bar and pizza place: we loved Roman pizza and felt that, of all the styles, it was underrepresented in the UK, let alone in Greater Manchester. Once we made the decision, we flew to Rome and spent a few days eating as much pizza, fried food and gelato as we could."
The food menu features Roman pizza with a super thin crust topped with seasonal ingredients, plus a 'per tutti' list of snacks or starters for everyone, including deep-fried lasagne. The drinks menu draws on Italy's aperitivo culture, with familiar options like cold lager or Negroni alongside more unusual choices such as Calindri or Caffe Menta, plus a selection of low intervention wines. Bar Caput is at 71 Great Underbank, Stockport SK1 1PE.
