Manta Brings Upscale Fusion to Lighthouse Point
Ellen Crane
October 1, 2024
A popular Wynwood restaurant has opened its second location in Lighthouse Point. Owner, Andres Lozada Zuzunaga believes the neighborhood is a perfect bridge between more sophisticated culinary hot spots in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. The menu offers an upscale fusion of Peruvian, European, and Asian cuisines.
Zuzunaga, grew up in the culinary mecca of Arequipa, a Peruvian city known for its award-winning restaurants. From a very young age, he made his own meals and enjoyed cooking.
“I grew up in a culture where quality food and cooking were central to everyday life,” he said.
He left home to attend college in Germany, where he studied industrial engineering, but returned to his hometown in Peru to pursue his lifelong dream of being in the restaurant business. Although his original goal was beer brewing, he found that avenue required a heavy interest in chemistry. Therefore, he purchased Peru’s first Domino’s Pizza franchise, which was so successful that the original owners bought it back within 11 months. His second venture was a chain of five ice cream stores he created, then sold after three years.
In 2013, Manta was born with humble beginnings. “We started it from scratch and only had four tables,” recalls Zuzunaga. “We did it all at first, but quickly grew to a bigger location.” Today, he owns four restaurants in Peru.
While on vacation in Miami with his wife and their daughter and son in 2018, he discovered a community ripe for a new Peruvian restaurant. “I fell in love with Miami and Wynwood, and knew I had to create a Manta there.”
Over the next three years, Zuzunaga and his partners invested more than $1 million in their first U.S. venture, which opened in March 2021 to rave reviews and remains one of Wynwood’s most popular restaurants. He also moved his family to Weston, making Florida their permanent home.
By 2022, he was eager to open the second Manta location and began researching locations from Fort Lauderdale to Boca Raton. He found an available space fronting busy Federal Highway. Zuzunaga invested in an expanded outdoor area to enhance customer enjoyment.
Maintaining authenticity, however, is his top priority. He sources only the freshest ingredients directly from Peru and even brought in a native Peruvian as his head chef.
“Everything we serve is 100% Peruvian,” he stressed. “Even our limes are imported from Peru.”
Giving back and being environmentally friendly are also priorities for Zuzunaga, who says that all of his locations in Peru use solar power and sophisticated composting, technologies he hopes to bring to the U.S. A passionate philanthropist, he donates a portion of some of his dishes to Vidawasi, a nonprofit in Peru that brings much-needed pediatric care to the country’s underserved population, especially children fighting cancer.
Manta is located in the Shoppes at Beacon Light at 2410 North Federal Highway
