London restaurant brand Bistrotheque has bowed out of Manchester after less than six months.
Established in the East End in 2004, Bistrotheque opened its northern outpost in the former Ducie Street railway warehouse shared by aparthotel Native last September.
The 80-seat restaurant formed part of Cultureplex, a ground floor lobby which also includes a bar, coffee shop, co-working space and mini cinema.
Founders Pablo Flack and David Waddington are no longer involved with the venue, the M.E.N has been told, and it is to be rebranded as The Restaurant at Cultureplex.
Chef director Blaine Duffy will also no longer be involved, although the menu remains the same for now.
A spokewoman for Native said there were no plans to 'turn it upside down' when his replacement is appointed.
Native manager Jacqui Griffiths will now oversee the food and drink operation. There have been no changes to the rest of the restaurant and bar staffing.
The Cultureplex model has been 'massively successful' and its film and event programming will continue as normal, the spokeswoman added.
Bistrotheque received a glowing review from the M.E.N, praising its 'confident, self-assured' cookery.
Reception elsewhere was mixed. The Guardian's Grace Dent dismissed her meal there as 'largely forgettable', but her Observer colleague Jay Rayner later countered her opinion with his own, that the restaurant 'is proving to be a thoroughly reliable late-night dinner option'.
Pablo told the M.E.N: "We’ve been talking to Native for a while and we all thought integrating the two was the best way to go.
"It was also felt that it was best to bring everything under the [Cultureplex] brand, but really nothing has changed from a customer perspective, the team is exactly the same and that’s the important bit.
"We’ll be rooting for them! We won’t be strangers to the city, we love Manchester and have made loads of friends."
