Name: The Annex Hotel
Contact: 296 Brunswick Ave., 647-277-1179, theannex.com, @annexhotels Neighbourhood: The Annex
Previously: The Green Room
Owners: Justin Fong, Andrew Peek (Delphia) and Trevor Speis (The Good Son, Mrs. Robinson).
Chefs: For Annex Commons, Big Trouble Pizza & Seven Lives Tacos, and for the Annex Wine bar, chef Hoon Ji.
Director of food and beverage:
Hassel Aviles (The Underground Market).
The food
The new boutique hotel’s lobby is a café by day and a wine bar at night. During the day, the menu features things like avocado toast and pastries from Mabel’s Bakery. At night, it switches over to stuff that goes well with wine: conservas, meat-and-cheese plates, steak tartare. The hotel’s evenings-only venue, The Commons, is a mini food hall with a menu from Big Trouble Pizza and tacos and tostadas from Seven Lives. Everything is available to go, and a Brunswick-facing takeout window will sell coffee later this March.
The Lobby Bar’s daytime menu includes a selection of pastries delivered daily from Mabel’s Bakery. $4. At night, the menu switches over to things like tins of imported Portuguese anchovies and octopus. $8 and up. And this Niçoise salad. $8. The Chef’s Selection features cured meats and cheeses from the Cheese Boutique. $22. Here’s the menu for the Commons. Big Trouble’s Annex Margherita is topped with tomato sauce, three cheeses (mozzarella di bufala, fior di latte, mozzarella), olive oil and basil. $18. The Kung-Funghi is topped with portobello and enoki mushrooms, mozzarella, sweet onion, chives, black pepper, truffle oil and tangy chili jelly. $18. The Grape Gatsby features pickled grapes, fior di latte, frisée, olive oil, goat cheese, honey, rosemary and sea salt. $17. The Butter Jam Jam is topped with raspberry jam, butter, mozzarella, balsamic reduction and lemon zest. $16. Seven Lives’ blackened swordfish taco is finished with cabbage, crema, onion, cilantro and salsa aguacate. $6. The mushroom tacos feature king oyster mushroom confit, mole verde, queso fresco and radish. $6. The Pacifica Tostada features torched raw salmon, fried leeks, sesame and avocado. It’s finished with Maggi seasoning and arbol oil. $12. Here’s all three of them. Exclusive to the menu at the Commons, Seven Lives’ Chamorro meal is a fried pork hock served with tortillas and all the fixings, including a seasonal salsa. Serves two to three people. $24.
The drinks
The Lobby Bar’s coffee counter serves espresso-based drinks, while the bar serves low-intervention wines, local craft beer and cocktails, both signature and classic. Over at the Commons, there’s more craft beer, more cocktails (including negronis on tap) and a short wine list.
Here’s an Americano from the Lobby Bar’s coffee counter. $3.50. And a latte. $4.50. Lobby Bar’s La Bouche is made with Tromba Blanco tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, simple syrup, figs and thyme. $15. Also from the Lobby Bar, Little White Rye is made with Dillon’s White Rye, Green Chartreuse, ginger liqueur, pear bitters, simple syrup and lime juice. $17. A selection of the low-intervention wines available from the Lobby’s wine bar. The Commons’ El Chupa Nibre is a mix of Mount Gay Rum, pineapple, lime juice and mint. $14. Also at the Commons’ cocktail bar, the Highway Star is made with Jameson, cinnamon and thyme-infused Disaronno. $14. The Commons’ CC is made with mescal, grapefruit liqueur, lime and lemon juices and soda. $14.
The space
The smaller of the two venues, Lobby Bar doubles as a daytime workspace complete with plush furniture to sink into and fast Wi-Fi. Come summer, an outdoor patio will add space for an extra 20 people. The Commons, decorated with exposed brick, concrete floors and plenty of plants, features an open kitchen, and two bars (one for wine, the other for cocktails and beer).
Here’s a look inside the Lobby Bar. Here’s the Lobby’s Bar’s coffee counter. And here’s the Lobby Bar’s cocktail bar. You’re looking at the Lobby Bar’s future patio. And here’s the Commons. The entrances to both the Lobby Bar and the Commons are on Barbara Barrett Lane, just off Brunswick Avenue.
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