Mano: Étienne Nadeau’s Bet on Affordable Fresh Pasta in Quebec City

With Mano, which opened in mid-September 2026 in Quebec City, chef Étienne Nadeau puts his know-how to work on fresh pasta. Together, his partner Sandrine Grenon and he also run Ambre Buvette and Saison in Sainte-Foy, two addresses recommended by the Michelin Guide. Here they sign their most accessible project yet: 45 seats, continuous service from midday through the evening, seven days a week, and a place you can visit without waiting for a special occasion.

Fresh Pasta for Every Day

From food trucks to the two gastronomic tables built with his partner in life and in business, the chef has worked across several registers. The idea of a fresh pasta restaurant had been with the couple for a long time, and the project ended up imposing itself. Each of their restaurants has a clear identity, which they shape themselves, from the concept to the ambiance to the brand image, and Mano follows the same guiding line. The starting point was an observation. “There aren’t many fresh pasta places in Quebec City. Fast, affordable fresh pasta is even rarer,” says the chef. Battuto serves excellent ones, but the couple wanted a place where you can book easily. The two restaurateurs also wanted to be closer to the city, where the clientele and the workforce are. On site, everything is designed for accessibility. Service runs without a break from midday through the evening, which makes room for a pasta dish in the middle of the afternoon, and the meal follows everyone’s rhythm, whether you are in a hurry or in the mood to take your time. For those who prefer to eat at home, takeout orders extend the experience.

A Dreamed-Up Atmosphere

The room cultivates a classic, muted elegance, a deliberate counterpoint to a menu where pasta dishes hover around $20. In the evening, conversations, clinking glasses and passing plates bring it to life. During full service, the chef sometimes stops to watch the scene under the gaze of his cooks: he had imagined exactly this noise, a full room, laughter. “It’s lively and it’s exactly what we dreamed of.” The deliberately tight menu opens with focaccia, polpette or tomatoes and stracciatella. Then come the pastas: radiatori with basil sit alongside rigatoni alla vodka and agnolotti with mortadella and pistachio. To finish, choose a tiramisu made with decaffeinated coffee or one with strawberries. A wink to the local terroir, Louis d’Or, a Quebec cheese the chef has championed for years in his other restaurants, replaces Parmesan on every pasta. Here, accessibility never comes at the expense of know-how: “It’s still real cuisine,” the chef is quick to remind us. The stocks, the pasta and the sauces are all made in-house. The menu will keep evolving through the year, enriched with seasonal dishes that will give regulars new reasons to come back. The short wine list gives pride of place to Quebec products, and a few cocktails, from negroni to spritz to sureau, round out the offer.

The Taste of Handmade

The name, which means “hand” in Italian, nods to the origin of the pasta without pretending to be Italian cuisine. For the chef, it points above all to a signature he could recognize with his eyes closed: from fast food to haute cuisine, every plate must carry the imprint of work done by hand. For the couple, each restaurant carries a part of their universe. Where Ambre evokes home and Saison evokes road trips, Mano lives in the everyday, at the rhythm of a room that hums from midday through the evening, like a neighborhood table you adopt without delay. You will also find Mano in our lists Top Lunch Spots in Quebec City and Where to Eat Well on a Budget in Quebec City. Enjoy the discovery!

Written by Jean-Philippe Tastet
Photography by PLG Numérique

Updated on October 07, 2026

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