I MEET for lunch with superstar DJ Dave Haslam at Manchester fish restaurant, Livebait.

We chose the venue because Dave informs me he is a "piscatarian, a vegetarian who eats fish".

He also informs me that he has just invented the word `retrosexual'.

He says. "It means like a metrosexual couple, but they wear retro clothes all the time, and they hang out in a retropolitan world."

I ask whether his home area of West Didsbury, known for its bohemian population, may have inspired the coining of this particular word.

He chuckles. "Yes I've leafleted outside the deli, saying: `get yourself into the 21st century' and `act your age, not your shoe size'."

But Dave is certainly not living in a retropolitan world. Although he's perhaps best known as legendary DJ of Manchester's Hacienda club, he's not one for looking backwards.

He says: "Sometimes I think it's a shame to be nostalgic about it. I'm happy to celebrate the past without living in it. I'm happy to accept the Hacienda days were great but I don't wake up in the morning wishing I was back in time.

"I've managed to do a lot of great things since the Hacienda closed 10 years ago."

Delicious

Dave's cod fillet served on curried lentils arrives, while I chomp on a Marsala-spiced sea bass. Both are delicious, and Dave is particularly proud that he wolfs every last bit.

Happily, the restaurant meets with Dave's approval - even the background music. He admits he's a "bit Stalin-ist" about these things.

He says: "I told them once at a place called The Assembly in West Didsbury that I wouldn't go back in if they didn't stop playing Simply Red. I never went back. I think people will understand that though."

He did praise The Art Of Tea in the same village though. "The music there is spot on, you'll get The Strokes, Velvet Underground... as a consequence I've spent hours in there."

These days, Dave is busy DJing on the club circuit, and presents his radio show, The Weekender on Xfm on Friday nights, before heading off to do the Another Planet nights at South on King Street.

"A good club is a community, you get the same regulars week in, week out in the same way people used to go to chapel or to working men's clubs," he says.

"DJing is the job you want as a music lover - the opportunity to share your favourite records with somebody.

"It's a lot more than turning up for four hours and playing records. But if you can make a living out of that it leaves you with a lot of other time.

"For example, I wrote the book Manchester, England. For some people that was the first time they'd come across my name. I think it made some people think, `hmm, a DJ who can write!' DJs do have this reputation for being drug-chomping morons."

However, there is one DJ cliché he will admit to. I discover he met both his ex and his wife after they shimmied over to his DJ booth to make a request. He laughs: "I should put out a little warning, DJs can be quite sleazy, even the ones that write books."

Livebait, 18-22 Lloyd Street, Manchester, M2 5WA, TEL: 0161 817 4110.

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