Phileas Fogg-themed bar group set to double in size this year

Inception Group is to double the size of its Mr Fogg’s collection of bars, with three openings scheduled for 2018.

The first, Mr Fogg’s House of Botanicals, will launch in Fitzrovia this June. Billed as a “cocktail bar for the adventurous”, the bar will be serving cocktails inspired by “all manner of botanicals Mr. Fogg discovered on his travels,” according to the company.

The second, Mrs Fogg’s, will open in September. Located in the pedestrianised central London neighbourhood of Broadgate Circle, the bar will be inspired by Phileas Fogg’s wife Aouda.

The year’s expansion will conclude in October, with the opening of Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration on the Strand.

The group plans to open more Phileas Fogg-inspired concepts in 2019.

The Mr Fogg’s brand, launched in 2013, is inspired by Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel Around the World in 80 Days.

The venue portfolio includes a Mayfair ‘residence’; a Covent Garden tavern; and a Covent Garden gin parlour.

Owned by hospitality group Inception Group, Mr Fogg’s sits among the likes of Bunga Bunga, Squirrel and Cahoots in co-founders Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling’s hospitality venue portfolio.

Funding for the rollout of the three new sites has been provided by OakNorth bank, which describes itself as ‘the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs’.