Cabaret, martinis and Yorkshire puddings: The Cockatoo by Bistrotheque has it all
The Cockatoo, a bar, restaurant and performance space designed by Nice Projects, adds spice and rhythm to storied east London venue Bistrotheque
A shabby back street in London’s Bethnal Green might not have been the most obvious choice for a French-inspired restaurant and chic cocktail bar, but 20 years after restaurateurs David Waddington and Pablo Flack launched Bistrotheque on the first floor of an early 20th-century industrial warehouse of brick, concrete and steel, the party is still going strong – more so now with the opening of their latest project, The Cockatoo, on the ground floor.
The Cockatoo by Bistrotheque, London
The ground-floor space, legendary for its drag cabaret shows, has been transformed by London-based studio Nice Projects into a standalone restaurant and performance area that can be reconfigured in a flash to cater for private events and dinners. The plan is also to open up the 105 sq m space for dance parties with live performers and DJs drawn from a predominantly queer cabaret scene, such as Bistroteque-favourites Jonny Woo and Dan Wye, aka Séayoncé.
Given a brief to create a flexible layout, Nice Projects’ Sacha Leong and Simone McEwan developed a modular banquette system on lockable wheels, which they paired with green mohair velvet and translucent polyester grating for the banquettes. Extant columns and lit fringe capitals are clad in mirror mosaic, the shimmering confection framed by a sassy fringe ceiling curtain, the latter made of 250m of fringe threads painstakingly zipped to metal grating.
The result is a fresh space that nevertheless cleaves close to its antecedents. As Leong and McEwan point out, ‘Bistrotheque is an east London institution that is now 20 years old. It’s had many successful iterations in the past, so it’s a special space for the creative community.’
Meanwhile, The Cockatoo’s kitchen is headed by Bistrotheque’s head chef Blaine Duffy, whose Mexican-inspired menu features the likes of grilled steak paired with ancho chilli butter, spring onions and lime, and a refreshing salad of grilled jicama, radish, corn and citrus. Traditionalists may prefer to show up on a Sunday for the classic roast and Yorkshire pudding.
The Cockatoo by Bistrotheque is located at 23-27 Waddeson Street, London E2 9DR, thecockatoo.london
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Inside ‘M&OTHERS’, the experimental exhibition dissecting the relationship between fashion and motherhood
A new exhibition at Modemuseum Hasselt, Belgium explores the rarely examined link between fashion and motherhood, in all its forms
By Dal Chodha Published
-
Human gestures shape Milano Cortina 2026's Winter Olympic look
Italian spirit is at the heart of the upcoming Winter Olympic games with pictograms, emblems, and mascots called the 'Vibes'. The idea is to celebrates the Italian way of communicating through expressive movements and gestures
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
What happens when a Chanel watch becomes a sound machine?
Meet the Chanel Première Sound – an adaptable necklace with a watch and removable earphones
By Caragh McKay Published
-
London bar Bauhaus Warehaus is a factory by day, drinking den by night
Mixologist of the moment Remy Savage shakes up the world of cocktail-making with a hardworking sibling to A Bar with Shapes for a Name, his Bauhaus-inspired bar enterprise in east London
By Neil Ridley Published
-
First look at 19 Motcomb Street, Belgravia’s iconic Pantechnicon reinvented
Former Nordic-Japanese design and dining hub Pantechnicon reopens as 19 Motcomb Street with a trio of food and beverage concepts
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Where to eat Italian food in London
From four-course blow-outs to the perfect pizza , food critic Ben McCormack recommends London's best Italian restaurants to have on your radar
By Ben McCormack Published
-
Out of office: from Loewe loafers to volcanic views, the Wallpaper* editors' picks of the week
What the Wallpaper* team have been eating, seeing, wearing and crucially, enjoying, this week
By Bill Prince Published
-
Out of office: What the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this week
Team Wallpaper* are hard to pin down. Here's what our editors have been up to this week that might inspire your own downtime, from films to food, architours to musical interludes
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
First look at Soma 2.0: a new nighttime highlight in east London
Fresh from its Soho roots, this newly opened London bar is set to redefine Canary Wharf’s nightlife – not least with its Indian-flavour-twist cocktails, as Neil Ridley discovers
By Neil Ridley Published
-
This new London restaurant bursts with Mexican flair and flavour
Fonda is London’s new Mexican restaurant, courtesy of chef Santiago Lastra, also behind Michelin-starred Kol. As Mary Cleary discovers, it’s serving up colour and creativity
By Mary Cleary Published
-
KOYN Thai brings high-end flair to London's West End
From Samyukta Nair and Fabled Studio comes a new restaurant with food drawn from the length and breadth of Thailand
By Ben McCormack Published