The red door opposite the war memorial

At the end of January 2010, Quay Head House was a squat. For four nights, it was also one of the most talked about restaurants in Bristol.

Cloak & Dinner was a guerrilla supper club set up by a group of Bristol chefs, waiters, bartenders, actors and creatives who felt that eating out well had become too expensive and too fussy. Diners emailed to ask for a place. The venue was only revealed the day before, and on the night they were simply told to head for the red door opposite the war memorial.

Inside, according to one guest who wrote it up for the Bristol Culture blog, there was a smoking room hung with artwork and a red curtain, a gin and tonic and a vegan canapé, and then a winding wooden staircase up to a panelled room lit with candles. Around forty people ate looking out over the Centre, while a klezmer ensemble and then a solo guitarist played in the corner. The food leaned Spanish and Middle Eastern: mezze, a pork and bean fabada, rice with Cornish seafood, a Seville orange tart.

There was no bill. At the end of the meal, everyone was handed an envelope and asked to leave what they thought the evening was worth. On the way out, heavy bolts had to be drawn back to open the front door.

Were you there?

We would love to know who was behind Cloak & Dinner, whether it ran more than once, and who was living in the building at the time. If you cooked, served, played, ate or slept here, please get in touch. We are especially keen on photos of the rooms as they were before the bar fit-out.

Tell us about Cloak & Dinner.

Sources: Bristol Culture, Cloak and Dinner, 28 January 2010; Ephemeral Digest, A chilled Cloak and Dinner, 30 January 2010