With a heavy emphasis on Latin-American spirit and convivial dining, MNKY HSE’s restaurant dishes are designed to share and excite, whilst its bar boasts a vast list of premium cocktails and increasingly popular mezcals.
In keeping with the MNKY HSE ethos – ‘nothing is what it seems’ – its cheeky and playful personality is mirrored in its mysterious and eclectic design scheme. Quirky, decorative features include a series of design elements that magically transform as the night goes on.
The upstairs restaurant and bar boast a sleek look with dark wooden parquet flooring, a Murano crushed chandelier in the lobby, an intricate 3D honeycomb back wall and leather-clad banquette-style seating – perfect for business meetings, long lunches and evening drinks.
Downstairs, an open-plan kitchen openly overlooks MNKY HSE’s banquette-style seating, which is adjustable to accommodate dancing and encourage ‘table-hopping’. Elsewhere, a series of private booths, perfect for larger bookings, have been built into artistically-designed ‘vaults’, covered with vintage steel lift doors. There is also a spacious bar-cum-lounge for customers to enjoy the downstairs entertainment.
Both floors house a stage to host international and resident DJs and act as a creative platform for MNKY HSE’s house band and other live musicians and performers. Lively and eclectic entertainment is integral to MNKY HSE’s unique offering and, following its launch last year, it has curated a weekly roster of live music acts and experiences. Combining a vibrant blend of London funk with Latin spirit, MNKY HSE has been fully fitted with products from bespoke furniture manufacturer, Style Matters, enhancing the mysterious and eclectic environment and complementing the experience.
Brian Hawkins, Interior Design Director at Keane Brands – the interior designer which worked on the project – comments: “MNKY HSE offers something completely different to anything else in London, so it was important that the decor reflected this unique experience.
“Like the food, drinks and music, the interior design we opted for echoes the ‘nothing is what it seems’ element of the venue. Style Matters provided us with a variety of quirky and eccentric chairs, bar stools, fixed seating and tables, to put further emphasis on the fun, ‘Eat. Drink. Play’ ethos of the restaurant.”
MNKY HSE is the first UK-based project of world renowned Chef, Pablo Peñalosa Nájera, the man behind the Four Seasons’ Bogotà and Morimoto in Mexico City. The restaurant opened its doors last October.
Claire Fox, Director of Style Matters, comments: “As with any project we work on in the restaurant sector, durability and flexibility are key.
“As MNKY HSE is set within such an exclusive part of London, it was also crucial that the pieces we designed created a luxurious yet relaxing ambience for guests to enjoy.” In addition to MNKY HSE, the team at Style Matters have completed a number of notable projects in recent months including, German Gymnasium in London, as well as Manchester-based Hotel Gotham and King Street Townhouse.
Brian concludes: “The overall finish of the seating and tables provided by Style Matters perfectly complement the look and feel throughout the whole restaurant. “The project reinforces the brand’s versatility, as well as the team’s ability to meet unique briefs.”