Manteca’s Co-Founder To Launch New Greek-Inspired Restaurant

By Ellie Smith

3 months ago

OMA will launch in Borough Market this spring


Manteca in Shoreditch has risen to cult status since opening in 2021, renowned for its nose-to-tail cooking. And now its co-founder, David Carter, is back with a new restaurant, OMA, coming soon to Borough Market.

OMA: New Restaurant From Manteca’s David Carter

Set to open in spring 2024, up a flight of stairs just off Bedale Street, OMA will draw from the cuisine of the Greek islands and surrounding coastal regions. It will feature both a crudo bar, which will showcase a display of dayboat fish and shellfish, alongside an open, live-fire kitchen, where the kitchen team will sizzle up dry-aged meat, Cornish fish and vegetables from Flourish Farm. 

Sharing plates at OMA restaurant in Borough Market

Heading up the kitchen alongside Carter will be Nick Molyviatis and Jorge Paredes, formerly head chef of Kiln and executive chef of Sabor respectively. On the menu you’ll find sharing plates like hung sheep’s yoghurt, hummus masabacha, and wood-fired breads, alongside a daily-changing selection from the raw bar, such as yellowfin tuna with clementine, and gilthead bream. 

Next up, guests can enjoy Aegean mains like harissa-grilled prawns, and brown crab borek, alongside dishes from the grill: think slow-grilled red mullet, skewered Cornish squid with za’atar oil, lamb and date skewers, and turbot stews. Like Manteca, OMA will spotlight British produce and ethically farmed meats, with a focus on whole animal butchery. All this can be followed by desserts of olive oil ice cream, or rizogalo rice pudding with black figs.

There will also be an extensive wine list featuring 400 varieties, with a focus on Greek wines as well as bottles from islands like Corsica, La Palma and Tenerife. 

Interiors of Manteca

Manteca by Anton Rodriguez

Interiors come courtesy of Box 9, the team behind Manteca and SMOKESTAK – another of Carter’s ventures. The restaurant will draw on Greece for its look too, with a breezy colour palette of eucalyptus, stone and dark wood, and a mix of intimate and larger tables, plus a terrace overlooking the market below.

‘OMA represents everything I love about restaurants: it offers a dining experience in its most intentional conception,’ says Carter. ‘From the design to the food, to the style of service and aesthetic finishes, every part of OMA has been considered. It encapsulates and celebrates the raw beauty, natural landscapes and warmth of the places that have inspired it. The bold flavours of Greece and the Levant, created with amazing British produce treated simply and with respect.’

OMA will open in spring 2024, oma.london