Urban Leisure Group launches seventh bar and restaurant site

Ask For Janice is located on Long Lane opposite Smithfield market, in the site that was formerly Kench and Bibsey. The site includes a basement bar which can seat 40 people and a ground floor which can seat 75.

The site will serve food all day alongside a diverse coffee and alcoholic drinks menu. BigHospitality talked to the director of Urban Leisure Group Hezi Yechiel about the new bar and the group’s future expansion plans.

Décor and atmosphere​

Ask For Janice features a mix of classroom and industrial décor and includes reclaimed wood and vintage tiling. Urban Leisure Group uses a great deal of contemporary art in its bars and this site is no exception, featuring work from graffiti artist Kid Acne alongside an original Damien Hurst print and more.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on the details,” said Yechiel. “The basement is a bit different, through a hidden door in a brick wall. Downstairs is a bit darker and more the drinking area of the bar, while upstairs is airy and open.

“There’s also lots of art on the walls. We had Kid Acne work on a couple of them and we’ve got work by Damien Hurst and Pure Evil. Then there are some impromptu bits of writing on the walls and a projection. We’re also excited about the music we’ll play, that always makes a massive difference and creates a great atmosphere.”

Food and drink offering​

Ask For Janice will be open Monday to Friday for all day dining, serving a selection of pastries and full breakfasts in the morning and classic takeaway sandwiches throughout the day. Executive chef James Browne has also created a menu of small and large plates as well as sharing platters for sit down dining. The Urban Leisure Group focuses on using local suppliers and ingredients to create sustainable dishes.

The drink offering is of high importance to Ask For Janice where there are nine beers on draft and a selection of more than 50 craft beers in bottles. The bar also has a strong gin focus with a large range to choose from, and serves eight wines of each type by the glass all at the same price, so customers can choose what they like by taste rather than price.

Coffee is also very important at Ask For Janice, which gets its blends from the local Coleman Coffee Roasters.

Continued growth​

Ask For Janice is the Urban Leisure Group’s seventh site and its other six bars are all in London. They operate two bars under the Alice House label, but aim for the bars to differ from each other, despite a few common traits.

Yechiel  said: “We were planning to to open a couple of sites this year, then this opportunity came along with a great location available and we moved quickly, it was more instinct than anything. We’re hoping to have one more site before the end of the year if everything goes to plan and we have a few locations in mind, but nothing is certain yet.  I think our aims for now are to try and open a couple of sites a year and we might look to do another Alice House next year.”

When asked whether the company would consider expanding outside of London, Yechiel said: “I’m going to Berlin next weekend to speak to a design company about the potential of collaboration there, but that might or might not happen. Right now in the UK we’re not moving out of London yet, there are still lots of places in the capital we’d like to set up, but I’m sure at some point we’ll venture outside London, just not quite yet.”