The duo behind Bistrotheque are heading up North

Style and substance will be the winning formula at Bistrotheque duo David Waddington and Pablo Flack’s new Manchester outpost
Pablo Flack and David Waddington
Clara Strunck5 September 2019

'There are so many good memories — not that we can remember all of them!’ laugh David Waddington and Pablo Flack when I meet them for coffee at Bistrotheque, their restaurant in Bethnal Green.

Now an east London stalwart, its unassuming warehouse façade (it used to be a clothing factory) belies what hides behind it: cool, white-painted interiors and a menu of comforting classics.

Bistrotheque was 2004’s hottest opening, attracting YBAs, pop stars and everyone in between. ‘We’ve had mums and dads with their kids, we’ve had the cool young things and we’ve had Hollywood stars,’ says Waddington. ‘When all of that mixes in one room it can create some interesting moments.’ Those range from an early visit from Catherine Deneuve (‘the entire room stopped and looked at her’) to the infamous Drag Balls. ‘The first one we did here, the judges were Zandra Rhodes, Edward Enninful, Pat McGrath and Kim Jones. It got more and more mental as the night wore on. The drag queens had their legs hooked over the metal rafters on the ceiling and they were voguing upside down.’

These days, Bistrotheque is more sedate — you’re more likely to be sitting down to a Sunday lunch of its renowned roast chicken than a show. But Flack and Waddington (right) have still been hard at work. Their latest venture, Cultureplex (above)— a cultural centre combining a new Bistrotheque restaurant with events, terraces and a cinema — opens in a former railway goods warehouse in Manchester next week.

Chicken at Bistrotheque and Cultureplex

‘We’ve always fused cultural offerings with food and drink, so it’s kind of natural for us,’ Flack tells me. Waddington was brought up in rural Settle and Flack comes from Huddersfield, so their expansion to the North is a natural one. But this won’t just be a second Bistrotheque: ‘It’s not a chain, we’re not trying to recreate it. But there are certain things, like the roast chicken, that have to be on both menus.’

Cultureplex

Are they confident their new project will take off just as Bistrotheque did? ‘It feels like we’re having a party and wondering if anyone’s going to come,’ Flack laughs. ‘But there’s so much going on in Manchester now, it feels quite similar to Shoreditch in the Nineties. There’s younger, underground stuff and people leading a creative life. Those are all the ingredients for us.’

Cultureplex opens on 12 Sep (cultureplex.co.uk)

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