Mano a Mano Restaurant | RISCO

The restaurant is located close to Cais do Sodré Station, in a recently recovered Pombaline building with three fronts: one on Rua do Alecrim, which will contained the main entrance, another on Rua do Ferragial, and a third on Rua de S. Paulo, one level up from that street.
The project briefing was very clear: an Italian restaurant with a pizzeria, an open kitchen with full views of the ovens and an informal atmosphere, to be located in a recently recovered Pombaline building.
The space was handed over in the rough. It has plenty of daylight because of its three fronts and its long narrow configuration, wrapped around the building’s stairwell.
Our approach to the project began by defining a layout that would comply simultaneously with the concept set out by the client and with articulation of the technical installations which were particularly complex in this specific case, given the shortage of space and the specificity of the pizza ovens.
The preparation and cooking zones run along the space of the dining room, backing up against the stairwell of the building. The two spaces are separated by a stone service counter with a wooden surround, in keeping with the request to bring the activity around the pizza ovens into the main room.
The public area is organised into two areas: the bar and the dining room, which seats approximately 80 people. The tables are placed along the façades to make the most of the large plate glass windows and the proximity to the surrounding streets.
The cladding materials: wood, stone and lime mortar, the furniture, lighting and decorative elements were designed and articulated throughout the project and the construction process, in order to arrive at an ambience that represents our idea of comfort.