All grown up, Manteca’s new space in Shoreditch feels like where this brand will really settle in.
The Décor and Vibe
Pale pink walls, two bars for dining, low lights, open kitchen and prep areas, and a leather pig sign. This is Curtain Rd, grown up.
Background Refresh
You probably already know that Manteca’s founders are David Carter (Smokestak) and Chris Leach (ex-Pitt Cue Co, Kitty Fisher’s, Petersham). This is all about regional Italian with a nose-to-tail, fire-cooked focus.
Food and Drink
As always, their menu is refreshingly different than what you see at most Italian places. Order the clam flatbread (do it), fried pasta scraps (why not), their signature crab cacio e pepe and wild mushroom ragu. All pasta is hand rolled (of course).
Other things that caught our eye: pig head fritti and pig skin ragu, 70-day aged sirloin and whole, wood-roasted line-caught bream. And for dessert: a chocolate tart with olive oil or burnt meringue with passionfruit.
Drinks have all the usuals, but some with slight twists; try something new.
Highlights
This is a buzzy place. And it feels fresh (and local) for Curtain Rd. They’re also focusing on in-house salumi, which sounds good.
