About Us
'Amici - Italian for friends'
Amici Ristorante and Pizzeria opened its doors in September 2008 in the height of the recession. Since opening it has grown from strength to strength and has established itself as one of Keighley's best Italian restaurants.
Originally opened by 2 best friends (hence the name Amici), it is currently owned and managed by one of the founders Nick Risidi (of Neapolitan and English parentage) and head chef Luciano Vespucci (from Sardinia). Together with the rest of the Amici team they have created a restaurant which has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere at the same time as providing excellent food at an affordable price.
Nick, following in his fathers footsteps, learnt his trade by working in and then managing one of his father's restaurants in Bradford. His knowledge combined with his determination to succeed (and a little bit of hard work!) has ensured that Amici has grown in popularity and has enjoyed steady growth, even in the economic downturn over the past couple of years. Luciano has been with him every step of the way ensuring the level of food has always been of the highest quality possible with an ever changing specials board to suit every appetite.
Luciano grew up in Sardinia where he learnt to cook from a very early age, before moving to York 10 years ago, where he continued his profession. It was then when he moved to Keighley where he became the head chef at Amici.
All the food from Amici is locally sourced and free range wherever possible. The meat is from North Yorkshire and the fish is fresh from Scotland. Other specialty Italian ingredients come from local Italian food importers.
Amici is also proud to own one of the few traditional wood-burning pizza ovens in the county, the bread and pizza dough are freshly made on the premises using the best Italian flour and we only use 100% mozzarella for our pizzas.