Joe and Lorraine
In 2001, Lorraine Angliss opened Annie’s in Strand-on-the-Green. Twenty-one years on, it is still one of Chiswick’s most popular places to dine out and, with four other sites (among them, Little Bird and Rock and Rose in W4), Lorraine is one of London’s most respected, and very few, female restaurateurs.
‘Hospitality is in my DNA,’ she smiles. ‘As a little girl, I watched my mother working in our family café on Hayling Island and thought, I want to be like her. She was my inspiration.’ Aged 16, Lorraine moved to London and trained as a Manager at the fashionable 1980s restaurant, Coconut Grove; she then opened a branch in Marbella before returning to the UK, where she was approached to launch Sticky Fingers in Kensington for Bill Wyman.
As Operations Director, Lorraine spent a decade developing Sticky Fingers into a successful nationwide group. When the business was sold, Lorraine looked for a new project, and found it in a corner premises in Strand-on-the-Green. ‘I knew exactly what I wanted Annie’s to be, and that was a friendly, home-from-home restaurant for local people. It has been recently refurbished and my son, Joe, who has been working with the company for several years, is now the Manager.’
A self-confessed risk-taker, Lorraine subsequently founded Little Bird (opposite Chiswick station), where the focus is on cocktails and grazing-style Asian food, and Rock and Rose on the High Road, which is open for lunch seven days a week and perfect for a party or night out.
‘The truth is, I just love designing restaurants,’ says Lorraine. ‘It’s my passion. I’m very hands-on with the design process and I like to think that I create places that everyone will enjoy. And, of course, excellent food and customer service is fundamental to our success – it is something that every member of my team cares deeply about.’
Annie’s
162 Thames Road
Chiswick W4 3QS
https://www.anniesrestaurant.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/anniesrestaurant/
Little Bird
1 Station Parade
Burlington Lane
Chiswick W4 3HD
https://littlebirdrestaurants.com
https://www.instagram.com/littlebirdrestaurant/
Rock and Rose
270-272 Chiswick High Road
Chiswick W4 1PD
https://www.rockandroserestaurant.com