Manteca arrived in London at a moment — the early post-pandemic years — when the city's food culture was recalibrating toward honesty, simplicity and the kind of cooking that made a virtue of its constraints. The whole-animal Italian philosophy that chefs Chris Leach and David Carter developed through a series of residencies at Smoking Goat and then at their own temporary site was, in retrospect, exactly right for the moment. The permanent Shoreditch restaurant, which opened in 2022, has run at capacity since its first week.
The expansion announced today is not a second Manteca. Leach and Carter are clear about that. The pasta bar format — eight pasta dishes built on the same whole-animal and sustainably sourced principles as the main restaurant, a short, interesting wine list, a counter where you watch the pasta being made — is a deliberately different proposition. Faster, cheaper, designed for lunch as much as dinner, and accessible to the repeat-visit frequency that a mid-market price point enables.
The first pasta bar site, in Soho, is expected to open in June 2026. Two further London locations — one south of the river, one north — are under lease negotiation with openings targeted for autumn 2026 and early 2027.
The Format
The counter format sits at the centre of the concept. At each site, fresh pasta will be made throughout the day in full view of diners — not as performance, but as the practical reality of a kitchen producing to order. The menu will rotate seasonally but settle into eight dishes at any given time: two or three stuffed pastas, two or three cut or extruded shapes, one or two that lean into the off-cuts and secondary cuts that define Manteca's whole-animal approach.
Prices will run between £10 and £18 per portion. Dishes are intended as main portions rather than starters — full-sized, satisfying, the kind of single plate that makes lunch work as a format. The wine list, developed with the same suppliers as the main restaurant, will include natural and low-intervention producers at prices designed for glass-drinking rather than bottle investment.
"The main restaurant does what it does, and it's hard to get a table, and the experience takes time," Carter said via the group's announcement this morning. "The pasta bar is about answering the same question — what does good pasta from good ingredients taste like — in a format that works on a Tuesday lunchtime as well as a Friday night."
The Whole-Animal Commitment in a Simpler Format
The pastoral and sourcing ethics that have defined Manteca's identity since its residency days present an interesting challenge for a higher-volume, faster-turn format. The pasta bar model requires consistent supply at volumes that the main restaurant's artisan sourcing relationships can accommodate but which will require careful management as three additional sites come online.
Leach and Carter have indicated that they are working with existing suppliers to scale the relationship rather than introducing commodity sourcing to meet volume targets — a decision that will constrain the menu's flexibility but preserve the integrity that underpins the brand's appeal. Whether that commitment is sustainable as the estate grows is the question the format will answer over time.
No reservations will be taken at any of the pasta bar sites.