As first reported by Eater London, founder James Brown sent an email to the Redchurch Street restaurant’s database announcing that its final service would be on 20 April.
“With only 16 seats to fill, we have far outgrown our small space both creatively and functionally and feel that we have achieved all that we set out to do and more,” the email read.
Mãos launched in April 2018 with Nuno Mendes at the helm. Though the restaurant - then operated as a supper-club like experience - won a star within 18 months Mendes moved on in 2019, handing the reins to his second in command Edoardo Pellicano.
Pellicano retained the restaurant’s star and - according to Brown - “pushed the restaurant to new heights with a level of cooking that to me is unparalleled in London, becoming one of the most brilliantly talented chefs in the culinary world today.”
Pellicano also oversaw the transition from ‘a kitchen, table and wine room’ to a more traditionally-run restaurant, albeit one in which all diners were seated at roughly the same time.
The restaurant currently offers a £225 per head tasting menu with Pellicano - who was brought up in London by his Italian father and Chinese-Singaporean mother - drawing on many different culinary influences to create progressive plates of food.
“The success of Mãos is in no small part thanks to our senior sous-chef Danny Hoang and junior sous-chef Warren Smith, who quietly bring Edoardo’s vision to life in the kitchen every day,” Brown continues.
“It is a brotherhood that works in harmony, we never hear raised voices, or see disappointment in the kitchen - only pure rigour, attention to detail and passion for the project with an unwavering work ethic.
“Words cannot describe how proud I am of all that we have achieved, and the memories that have been created within the walls of our intimate and beautiful first floor restaurant will never be forgotten.”