Creating a dining space for chef Adriana Cavita’s eponymous debut London restaurant was a significant ask for designer Camila Rodrigues of COR London.
With a brief summarised in a single line – to feel like you are in a Mexican granny’s backyard – the restaurant had to feel sophisticated (owing to the chef’s ex-El Bulli pedigree and a Marylebone address) while simultaneously feeling welcoming and lived-in.
Photography courtesy Cavita London
Photography courtesy Cavita London
Photography courtesy Cavita London
Photography courtesy Cavita London
Photography courtesy Cavita London
Photography courtesy Cavita London
Photography courtesy Cavita London
To achieve this, Rodrigues leaned on natural materials referenced in traditional Mexican architecture, such as hollow bricks in room dividers, bar columns, and brick lights on the restaurant’s internal walls. The centrepiece bar, with its pink and terracotta walls, textured counter, and warm lighting, is a showcase of femininity.
Additional modernity is provided via the dining room’s furniture, with walnut and leather cushioned chairs complementing granite tabletops and delicate paper lamps from Oaxaca’s Ka Iluminación Creativa, commissioned specially for the restaurant. Meanwhile, a bespoke chef’s table stands at the entrance to an open kitchen, where Cavita and her majority-female team plate showstopping dishes like chutoro tostadas and smoked mushroom tetelas.
Another focal point is the beautiful Altar de los Muertos, designed over a reclaimed composite stone fireplace mantle Rodrigues added to the building’s original chimney breast. Afterwards, guests can descend to Mayahuel mezcaleria, a subterranean mezcal bar that incorporates the building’s original vaults with intimate touches such as booth seating, velvet curtains, and vintage accessories.
56-60 Wigmore St, London W1U 2RZ
