THE music bar that gave Coldplay their big break is going back to its roots after being taken over by the Cutting Room folk as a sideline from revitalising the Ancoats scene.
After its refurb, Cafe Cuba in Port Street will be become Stage and Radio, the name of regular modern jazz sessions in the building during the Fifties, and Sophie Jarvis and Adam Regan are promising the three-storey venue will retain its vintage charm.
The most significant musical moment, though, was on September 13, 1998 when, as part of the Tony Wilson-led In The City music convention, it hosted a gig for unsigned bands Coldplay, previously Starfish, were 51st on the a bill headed allegedly by Muse.
First on and battling a disastrous sound system heir potential was spotted by an industry scout who tipped off Parlophone and the rest, as they say, is history.
The place indeed oozes history. Sophie Jarvis says: “It’s got so much soul and character, it just needed some TLC. We’re going to bring out all the old features and bring it back to life.”
Stage and Radio’s first floor bar will be crafted n the style of an antique yacht, with vintage radios as an appropriate feature. The second floor will be a casual restaurant serving New York style pizza, burgers and salads, matched by cocktails and craft beers. The basement will be for dancing.
Sophie (pictured) currently manages TOM fave, the The Cutting Room cafe and bar, an all-day (7am-11pm) eaterie in the former Koffee Lock unit on the ground floor of the Ice Plant building on Blossom Street.
This summer she and Adam are due to open the more ambitious Goose Fat and Wild Garlic restaurant, next to Rudy’s Pizza in the Fairbairn Building, also facing Cuttingn Room Square. Expect fine dining but with a casual vibe – “quite unlike anywhere else in town,” Sophie warns us.
Plus, just announced, it will have its own brewery, bizarrely called Fundamentum. The public will be able to see the brewing process through large glass windows. Hopefully it will address Manchester’s previous reluctance to match beers to top quality food.