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A performer on a metal landing at Diecast in Manchester.

A performer at Diecast

Eat to the beat: why Manchester loves dinner to dance to

“I’d say it’s quite unique in the sense that the food has a simplicity, as a lot of Spanish food does, but it also has a rustic elegance,” says Head Chef Joe Botham, describing Baratxuri’s output at Exhibition. Botham has dedicated his adult life to the art of open fire cooking, cutting his teeth in the Basque Country before returning to the UK to set up his own pocket of Northern Spain’s fiercely proud culinary culture. 

Baratxuri was the first restaurant to bring a Pereruela oven to the UK and almost everything on the menu touches the grill in some way, be it the trademark secreto – a storied cut of acorn-fed Iberian pig, marinated in dulce de leche, garlic and salt – or the sticky, oozing Spanish omelette made with Cacklebean Arlington eggs and seasonal potatoes (Bartlett’s Red Rooster at the time of writing) a daily monument on the lunch menu to the kitchen’s roots. Having come across his style of cooking via Flamenco music, Joe compares music as natural a pairing to food as wine.

Just don’t call them ‘clubstaurants’

Across Manchester, a dinner and dance culture has firmly taken root. A thriving restaurant scene has embraced both the city’s music promoters and an inherent love of partying. Whilst the word ‘clubstaurant’ might be an ick for all involved, it’s one way to describe how all three elements combine for a particular type of night out.

Maya, a Michelin Guide contemporary British fine-dining restaurant in the heart of the city’s Gay Village hosts clubnights spanning Afrobeat and House in its dramatic, open brick subterranean club space. Upstairs, highlights include Littlewoods Butchers-sourced brined lamb rump steak with overnight tomatoes and fried Mrs Kirkham's cheese curds with pumpkin ketchup.

Louis, an upmarket Sinatra-channelling, Italian-American restaurant where phone cameras are discouraged, serves up pricey osso buco alla Milanese with added croon, showcasing the city’s jazz and soul talent. Buzzy Stalybridge eatery Cafe Continental has been open less than a year and plaudits have flooded in for a menu that spans casually decadent small plates and seafood specials. Zed Bias, Gardna and Kurupt FM’s Hugo Chegwin have already graced the after dinner decks.

"Manchester excels at both carefully curated food and a banging party"

“Everything’s handmade,” Winter says. “Everything’s made fresh in the kitchens. The creative team are making their own costumes, the bar staff are peeling crates and crates of limes to macerate them down with sugar to make oleo to get the sweet element in the El Tequileño margaritas. It’s crazy but that’s the exciting bit, the buzz. We’re always making a new part of the experience.”

“It’s hard to explain to someone who has not been because there’s nowhere else that does this kind of thing,” says Ruby Foran-Parkinson, who along with co-curator Sally Smitherson is a driving force behind the entertainment at Firehouse and Diecast.

The duo cite the importance of Manchester voguing pioneer Darren Pritchard and Ghetto Fabulous for showcasing what was possible on Firehouse’s central runway from the beginning. They also praise an atmosphere of freedom and support across Firehouse and Diecast that has allowed them to create. The entertainment at Firehouse is an ongoing evolution of dance, cabaret, burlesque and drag, where inclusivity and creative expression explode, catalysing a palpable, infectious energy in the room. Even the initially tentative are swept up in it.

“Everyone’s enjoying themselves,” says Smitherson, contemplating why dinner and dining culture goes down so well in Manchester. “It’s not just the customer. It’s the dancers, the staff, the people on the bar, the DJs. Everyone in the room is having a belter.”

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