London calling: Annex 3

                          

                       

For any London locals or (inter)national visitors looking for a cool place to kick back and enjoy a tasty beverage, you could do a lot worse than Annex 3 on 6 Little Portland Street W1.  I came across this little gem the other week in Wallpaper*’s Design Awards Issue 2006 (which incidentally, is a fantastic reference tool for everything design) under the Best Bar category and was ecstatic to realise it’s fairly close by (yes sad I know ..)  So I popped along on a Wednesday evening and must say that I was highly impressed – particularly by the design interior.  Par exemple …   

              

Prices are reasonable (around £12 for 2 spirits and mixers), especially given the quality of the overall setup, and the staff approachable and polite – if lacking a little polish 

I’ve checked out a few unofficial reviews (this is 100% official after all) and some of them have given it a hard time for its bold blend of different design genres, but I think this is a bit short-sighted.  After years of unoriginal minimalism, it’s about time the bricolage brigade burst back onto the scene.  It fully embraces multidimensionality, complexity, nuance, and most importantly, gives you some interesting things to look at when your friend’s ranting on about a work-crush-that’s-just-not-fair-because-she’s-thirty-one-years-older!