Ibiza has spent decades building its international reputation around electronic music, legendary clubs and the DJs who make the island their summer home. This time, two familiar names from its nightlife scene are taking a different route. Longtime friends Seth Troxler and Manfredi “DJ Tennis” Romano have opened Seth & Manni’s, a neighbourhood deli and cocktail bar in Marina Botafoch, with an interior that brings the unconventional design language of Memphis Milano into the heart of the island.
Overlooking the harbour and the historic walled city of Dalt Vila, the venue brings together the founders’ interests in food, music and hospitality. The interior was designed by Toby Gauley in collaboration with Memphis Milano, the Italian design collective whose irreverent approach to colour, geometry and materials has found a new setting in the restaurant.
For Troxler and Romano, the move into hospitality has been developing for years. Raised in Michigan, Troxler grew up around Detroit’s music and food culture before launching Smokey Tails, an American barbecue venture. Romano, born in Sicily and trained as a cook, has explored his culinary interests through Munchietown, a platform dedicated to cooking videos and dining experiences. Both have long been part of Ibiza’s summer circuit, and Seth & Manni’s gives them a permanent address on an island where their professional lives have largely revolved around the seasonal nightlife calendar.
The design partnership with Memphis Milano gives the project an additional cultural dimension. Founded in Milan in 1981 by Ettore Sottsass and a group of architects and designers, the collective challenged the restrained aesthetics and functional principles that dominated much of modernist design. Its work became known for clashing colours, unconventional shapes, graphic patterns and unexpected material combinations. Seth & Manni’s marks Memphis Milano’s first official collaboration on a restaurant, bringing its visual vocabulary into a fully realised hospitality space.
Toby Gauley’s interior draws on that history through an extensive arrangement of colour, texture and architectural details. Stainless-steel surfaces and exposed black ceilings establish an industrial framework, while sweeping teal overhangs extend above the open kitchen and bar. Orange ribbed detailing runs along the cove ceilings, joined by cobalt-blue panels that give the space its distinct visual identity.
The surfaces carry much of the design’s character. Swirling ALPI wood-grain veneers, originally developed by Sottsass for Memphis objects, cover counters and sections of the walls, while custom tabletops feature sharp diagonal stripes. Checkerboard detailing appears along the skirting, adding another graphic element to the interior. A wall installation made from vintage television screens, speakers, vinyl records and audio equipment brings the founders’ musical backgrounds into the room.
Original Memphis pieces are also part of the setting. Among them are Ettore Sottsass’ celebrated Carlton bookcase and Michele De Lucchi’s First chairs and stools, designed in 1983. Their electric-blue circular backrests and slender tubular-metal frames introduce a distinctive retro-futurist presence across the dining and bar areas.
The menu follows the same open-minded approach to cultural influences. American deli favourites meet Sicilian street food, Mediterranean flavours and ingredients sourced from the island. An extensive cocktail selection, developed in collaboration with international bar consultancy Soulshakers, completes the offering.
At its core, Seth & Manni’s is designed as a neighbourhood meeting point, shaped by the founders’ interest in bringing people together. The setting has changed, the music may be playing at a different volume, but Troxler and Romano remain invested in the social side of hospitality, this time, with a table, a drink and a rather distinctive Memphis interior at the centre of it.
Follow Seth & Manni’s on: Website / Instagram
Photo by (c) Nacho Dorado
