Hot Concepts—the back catalogue 1

Drake & Morgan, the privately-owned bar and restaurant operator, has just opened its third and biggest site,
The Anthologist, in Gresham Street, in the City of London.

It is an impressive 850 capacity venue, previously the City of London’s Police Commissioner’s office, spreading over almost 11,000 square feet, and includes a large bar, cocktail lounge, kitchen, deli and basement wine cellar, with tasting tables and wine to go, as well as a chef’s table for 10 and ‘cabana’ style raised tables. It is over twice the size of its original site, the Refinery on the south bank. Check out the sheer scale of the operation.

The venue will open from 8am till late, five days a week and is available for exclusive hire on weekends, with a late license until 2:30 am on Thursday and Friday. See www.theanthologistbar.co.uk

Tim Bacon and Jeremy Roberts, founders of Living Ventures, have teamed up with a former business partner Dave Hinds to launch a new concept in the properous West Kirby district of the Wirral, called the Red Door Neighbourhood Bar & Kitchen. It's a small intimate locals bar with a relaxed dress-down atmosphere, specialising in wine, cocktails and tapas-style food, but trading throughout the day.

The pair also recently opened Suburbia, a new take on the bar lounge and club concept in the centre of the Cheshire town of Hale. To use their own words: "Why not visit yourself and find out what goes on in the basement of the house with the twitching curtains...". See www.suburbia.uk.com

Family friendly restaurant group Giraffe has launched Guerilla Burgers a new burger restaurant in the heart of London's Mayfair, with the hope of rolling it out as a chain. Beef, turkey and chicken burgers come in a range of styles including LA, rodeo and green chilli. The US-influenced menu also includes fish tacos, jam jar crayfish cocktail and fajita-spiced chips. Cocktails, wine and beer are avilable. The adress is 35 St James Street, W1U 1EA. See www.guerillaburgers.com

Newcomer Adagio,in Soho's Greek Street, is at the fast casual end of the market specialising in pizza al taglio (by the slice) which is cut to order and sold by weight. The 20-seat restaurant bakes pizzas in large trays, serving 12 different varieties every week - toppings include zucchini flowers, mozzarella and gorgonzola; broccoli and fresh Italian sausage with peperoncino; tuna with mayonnaise, artichoke purée and artichoke hearts on a tomato base. Average price is £3.50 a slice. See www.adagio-pizza.com

Polpo is a Venetian style bacaro occupying the ground floor and basement of an early 18th century building in Beak Street, Soho. It's an Italian alternative to London's current plethora of tapas bars, with a reasonably-priced menu consists of cicheti and small plates. The restaurant seats 55 and the bar seats 10. See www.polpo.co.uk

Bocca di Luppo, in Archer Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue, continues the informal, trattoria theme, with a more sophisticated take on traditional, rustic dishes and street food from around Italy. Customers can eat at the bar or in the restaurant. See www.boccadilupo.com

Then there's L'Anima, at Broadgate West, in the City of London, to sample. It's the restaurant and bar of Francesco Mazzei, the celebratedt chef currently working with PizzaExpress to add new touches to its menu (See Pizza Express signs up top chef Francesco Mazzei). L’Anima offers contemporary Italian cuisine in, what it's own website describes as "surroundings nothing short of sheer elegance". See www.lanima.co.uk

The major facelift being undertaken by TGI Fridays in the UK has included putting the bar back as a focus for the operation, which can be seen first hand at London’s Covent Garden, Birmingham’s Hagley Road and the Coventry restaurants. A review of the Fridays make-over will appear in the next edition of the Peach Report magazine in February. See www.tgifridays.co.uk

The bar has also been pushed to the heart of operations at the prototype of a new design for Chiquito’s, The Restaurant Group’s Mexican brand. The new-look, which overall delivers a livelier, more upmarket and contemporary style, is being tested at its Stevenage site. It’s worth a trip. Visuals can be found on the designers’ website www.harrisondesign.co.uk

Wallace & Co - a new all-day cafe and restaurant concept from TV Masterchef host and fruit and veg man Gregg Wallace has opened on Upper Richmond Road in London - with the emphasis placed on selling the best of British vegetables and fruit. See www.wallaceandco.com

Starbucks - the global chain is undergoing a major store redesign, with the launch of its first 'heritage' outlet on Conduit Street in London. It says it intends to use revamped designs for all stores it opens in the UK in the future. See the corporate video

Albion - Sir Terence Conran's is the talk of the town again with his plans to roll-out more of his mid-price café concept. The original Albion is part of his Shoreditch project - see www.albioncaff.co.uk

See also Conran plans to open more restaurants

Draft House – promoted as a new breed of pub offering “one of the widest ranges” of draught and bottled beers in London. First site is on Northcote Road, Clapham; second will appear at the end of January in Battersea. Draft House is the creation of Charlie McVeigh and the team behind The Westbridge in Battersea Bridge Road. See www.drafthouse.co.uk

Joe & The Juice - the Danish juice and coffee bar operator has opened its first UK site at 281 Regent Street, London - see www.joejuice.co.uk

Caffe Concerto - famous for its hand-made cakes and gateaux is openng on the balcony at the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush (it already runs shops in fashionable Piccadilly, High Street Kensington and Brompton Road) - see www.caffeconcerto.co.uk

Hell Pizza - the New Zealand-based pizza chain, which is putting fun into the pizza market, has opened its third London site in Clapham Junction, following openings in Fulham and Shepherds Bush - go see www.hellpizza.co.uk

Snog - if it's frozen yoghurt you fancy, try a Snog. The are three sites: South Kensington, Soho (Brewer St) and, of course, Westfield - see www.ifancyasnog.com

Pho - The Vietnamese street food concept is another making a big name for itself at Westfield. It can also be found at St. John Street, Clerkenwell, and Great Titchfield Street in Fitzrovia. It's worth a visit - see www.phocafe.co.uk

Comptoir Libanese - all the talk in London is about this Lebanese cateen and deli concept, with food to eat in or take-away, with four sites to date, including Westfield - see www.lecomptoir.co.uk

Miller & Carter -has been rolling out its take on the modern steakhouse around the country. The concept is heavily influenced by Houston's, the almost iconic US casual dining chain..and no bad thing - for nearest site to sample see www.millerandcarter.co.uk

Bill's Produce - acclaimed grocery store cum restaurant orginating in Lewes, Sussex, now being expanded by the team from Cote Restaurants, with second site in Brighton - see www.billsproducestore.co.uk