Above an unassuming Shoreditch shop front, in a corner of the newly opened Blue Mountain School – an interdisciplinary tapestry of design stores, spaces and archives – chef Nuno Mendes and Hostem co-founder James Brown’s new jaunt, Mãos is setting tongues wagging and palates alive.
Animated by scent, colour and a bustle of chefs, the 16-seat restaurant is more bijou artists’ studio than traditional restaurant cookhouse, walled with flowers, planted beds and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Opening bites like wild turbot with seaweed sofrito and magnolia leaf are sampled in the heat of the kitchen before meandering into the the cooling, earthy oasis of the dining room, punctuated by a single, bespoke table designed by 6a Architects, and a Barra D’oro light designed by Peter Zumthor (2003) and manufactured by Viabizzuno. Everything, even down to the stainless steel window dressings, has been created for the space.
London-based 6a Architects have opted for plenty of glass between kitchen and dining room, so as to promote a genuine connection between chef and guest. A show-stopping, suspended central staircase, also surrounded by a wall of glass, leads to the rest of the concept space, including a gallery that hosts rotating exhibitions, and a wisteria-heady roof terrace with views across east London rooftops.
The team at Mãos – led by Mendes and head chef Edoardo Pellicano (previously of Portland restaurant and Viajante) – has adapted a traditional 14-course tasting menu into a progressive and off-road trek through regions and cultures cultures, with an emphasis on Portuguese and Japanese cuisine. Designed around ‘promoting connection and conviviality’, the printed menu isn't revealed until the end of the night, facilitating discussion, intrigue and conversation, that coaxes diners out of their shell, during the three-hour long dinner.
Lubricated by the choice of wines from the dedicated wine room, Brown, whose mission was to bring a community experience back to the dining room table, says: ‘I think we’ve achieved that. Conversation never stalls – we’ve even had groups who connect, and remain friends long after they’ve left.’
INFORMATION
Enquiries can be made via the Blue Mountain School website
ADDRESS
41 Redchurch Street
London, E2 7DJ
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy designCreativity leaps the screen at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s record-flying roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
-
The modernist home of musician Imogen Holst gets Grade II listingThe daughter of the composer Gustav Holst lived here from 1964 until her death, during which time the home served a locus for her own composition work, which included assisting Benjamin Britten
-
This fun and free-spirited photography exhibition offers a chromatic view on the world‘Chromotherapia’ at Villa Medici in Rome, explores how we view colour as a way of therapy, and how it has shaped photography over the last century (until 9 June 2025)
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy design
Creativity leaps the screen at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s record-flying roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
-
London's coolest design-led coffee shops for your Fashion Week fixCoffee shops are the heart of London’s neighbourhoods, discover those fusing speciality beans and stylish interiors for the perfect brew
-
Shakara is a stylish new addition to London's West African dining sceneShakara, a new Marylebone bar and dining room, adds to the city's ever-more impressive high-end West African dining scene
-
First a fishmonger then a restaurant, how Applebee’s became a Borough Market stapleIn line with the London seafood restaurant’s 25th anniversary, Applebee’s is reopening with a new menu and a new look courtesy of design studio A-nrd
-
Mayfair restaurant Silva is a dainty ode to the MediterraneanEnvisioned by Studio Wren, Silva is a dynamic, textural restaurant that reflects nature’s rhythms through its cuisine and design
-
Peek inside Heathrow’s new VIP terminal: exclusive travel from door to departureThe Windsor is Heathrow’s newly refurbished private terminal boasting a private gallery, cuisine from a Michelin-starred chef, and butler and chauffeur services
-
Night at the museum: the best art hotels to book nowSleep amid surrealists at London’s Broadwick Soho, or wake up to contemporary favourites at New Hotel in Athens – indulge in an immersive art hotel experience
-
London’s Piraña restaurant combines Japanese-Peruvian fusion with lavishly moody surroundsPiraña restaurant wraps a delicious Japanese-Peruvian fusion menu in an alluringly moody atmosphere in central London’s Mayfair
