2 weeks Ago By Elise Taylor
It’s hard for anything to feel tucked away on Prince Street, one of the main arteries running through the beating heart of New York’s SoHo neighborhood. And maybe “tucked away” isn’t quite the right descriptor. But on a cold November night, I walked right past Manuela even though I was intentionally looking for it, my eyes failing to spot the small wooden yellow sign hanging outside the storefront.
But once you enter, the reserved exterior makes sense. See, Manuela is filled with art. But not just any art.
Millions of dollars of art, in fact: George Condo’s Inner Temple, Jenny Holzer’s Blue Benghazi, an untitled work by Cindy Sherman, and two prints by Andy Warhol, just to name a few. And those are just examples of framed pieces: the private dining room, for example, features a table and rug by Rashid Johnson. Meanwhile, hanging from the ceiling is a colorful vine-like chandelier made of reclaimed household plastic by Mika Rottenberg.
The reason for such an impressive collection? Manuela is part of Artfarm, the hospitality group overseen by mega gallery Hauser & Wirth. Slowly, surely, and intentionally, Artfarm has been opening a number of culture-infused restaurants and hotels across the world that showcase their art in a lifestyle context: they also have Mount St. Restaurant in London, as well as The Fife Arms in the Scottish Highlands.
Manuela, however, is their first project in New York City. They chose SoHo for its artistic roots: a few blocks away is Donald Judd’s studio on Spring Street, and once on the same intersection sat FOOD, the legendary artist-run restaurant by artists Carol Goodden, Tina Girouard, and Gordon Matta-Clark in the 1970s. “It is known for its artistic history and heritage and that's very exciting to us,” says Artfarm creative director Bee Emmott.
When it came to the design, they wanted art to shine in a prominent yet unpretentious way. There are no white tablecloths, no velvet curtains, no moody candlelight lighting. The tables, by Mary Heilmann, come in the bright, simple colors you might find in an elementary schooler’s crayon box: red, yellow, blue, green.
Manuela is open for both lunch and dinner service, a fact that was very important to the restaurant: Emmott says they wanted the space to feel like a canteen. “It could be you and I having lunch, or it could be a special occasion, or it could just be people working around,” she adds. “We wanted to create this democratic space that doesn’t feel like it has the pomp and ceremony that some places have.
” The menu is healthy and constantly rotating: Emmott says that half the dishes will change with the seasons. Many of them, such as the red kuri squash with stracciatella and urfa oil, will focus on local produce: “We’re really proud to champion vegetables and plant-based food and cooking the kitchen. In terms of how it sits, it's very much the heart of the restaurant.
You see it from every angle,” she adds. The art, the food, the martinis—all of it, hopefully, will get people talking. “We wanted to create an environment that is a catalyst for exciting conversations and discussions and for real excitement and creativity to happen,” says Emmott.
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