An ownable blend of urban minimalism for an Italian-British restaurant rooted in craft and care.

Manteca is an Italian-inspired restaurant located in the heart of Shoreditch. At the restaurant’s core is a commitment to sustainability, craft, and care expressed with a youthful, urban temperament. We created a space that was grown-up yet unstuffy, neither pretentious nor expected, all whilst remaining rooted in the brand’s less-is-more, caring-is-cool ethos.

The flowing, rhythmical, putty-coloured shopfront blends seamlessly into the Victorian columns of its corner location. The subtle movement in the Bauwerk paint softens the façade and allows it to blend with both the original brick and stone, making it contemporary but timeless, new but not shiny. The simplicity here allows the magnificently hand-carved hanging pig's head in oak and bronze, crafted by our good friend Jan Hendzel, to pull focus and hint at the nose-to-tail cuisine within.

The space feels undeniably London with subtle undertones of the Italian-inspired cuisine. The stairs were relocated from the front windows to the side, allowing head chef Chris Leach's incredible food to be thrust into the limelight. Both the colour palette and the cooking are centred around the pasta made on-site and the buttery warmth of the rich sauces that accompany it. A highly technical, sharply modern stainless-steel kitchen is enveloped in burnt, buttery brown Clay walls, pasta-coloured booths, rich tan tones, and oak cladding that echo the colours of the fluffy focaccia made and baked on-site.

Guests are immersed in the kitchen via a bold move to scatter the layout of the kitchen around the heart of the restaurant. This architectural decision both tackles the tricky structural limitations of the site being split into two by an immensely thick brick dividing wall, and places guests and chefs together in one space. As you descend the stairs to the lower floor, a bespoke salumeria emerges next to you. Alongside, a vast private dining booth wrapped in European oak panelling offers a versatile space for the restaurant to maximise its offering.

Manteca’s design celebrates the full transparency of its on-site butchery, in-house salumeria, hand-rolled pastas, and freshly cooked bread. A unique blend of Italian heritage and London style that is subtle yet highly satisfying – much like the cooking and service.