Bites

Urban glamour

Drones may have sloughed off its glittering, party-animal skin to emerge as a more sophisticated, serious venue. But elsewhere in the country, where do the beautiful people go when they're after contemporary glamour?

Drones may have sloughed off its glittering, party-animal skin to emerge as a more sophisticated, serious venue. But elsewhere in the country, where do the beautiful people go when they're after contemporary glamour?

fiftytwodegreesnorth, Arcadian Centre, Hurst Street, Birmingham (0121-622 5250). Mon-Sat dinner. And it's open until 1am for drinks in the cocktail lounge overlooking the restaurant resplendent with sumptuous drapes. This is the venue for David Ginola and his fellow Aston Villa players' dinner tonight, so you know Brum's most beautiful come here. Two courses are £17, three £22; the wood-fired oven makes its flavoursome mark on a good range of European dishes. If the restaurant's full, you can eat in the bar.

Groucho St Judes, 190 Bath Street, Glasgow (0141-352 8800). Mon-Fri lunch and dinner, Sat-Sun dinner. Open to everyone, unlike the London media club it's related to, the new Glasgow version has a large basement bar, plus an assured and stylish restaurant in the Victorian townhouse. Until Christmas it's serving only set-price menus - £25 lunch; £30 dinner for three courses, coffee and petits fours; cooking's European with Asian additions - turkey apart, there's sirloin steak and seabass as main courses.

Teatro, The Quays, Concordia Street, Leeds (0113-243 6699). Mon-Sat lunch and dinner, Sun brunch. Aiming for Leeds' A-list and to cream off its style leaders, this sleek, canalside restaurant and bar underneath an apartment block even has a members' bar, and is owned by celeb-magnets Leslie Ash and Lee Chapman. Food is very promising-sounding modern British, and the set lunch and early evening dinner is £12.50 for two courses, £15 for three. A la carte meals come to £20-£25 without drinks. The outdoor terrace has posing potential, but perhaps not at this time of year.

The Living Room, 15 Victoria Street, Liverpool (0151-236 1999). Mon-Wed 10am-10.30pm, Thur 10am-11pm, Fri-Sat 10am-12am. Following the Manchester prototype, in its second month this grown-up, brown and cream lounge bar and restaurant is the essential destination in Liverpool. Book to eat from a menu that ranges from club sandwiches to duck breast with Chinese cabbage, orange and thyme jus (£11.95).

Reform, Spring Gardens, King Street, Manchester (0161-839 9966). Mon-Sat lunch and dinner. This baroque-and-roll venue recently went through the wrong sort of rocky patch, although it remained the most conspicuously, extravagantly glam place to eat in the city. It went into receivership but has recently been bought and the emphasis in the kitchen has shifted from France to Spain and Italy. Cooking remains evolved and expensive, with main courses from £9.50 to £19.50 for steak au poivre.

World Service, Newdigate House, Castle Gate, Nottingham (0115-847 5587). Mon-Sat lunch and dinner, Sun lunch. This Georgian building in the shadow of Nottingham Castle has three dining rooms and a lounge bar done out by Satmoko Ball in beautiful Balinese guise. Fusion food with the influence of bok choy, wasabi, lemongrass, soya and ginger is superb; the service should have improved somewhat since it opened in the summer, and the city's coolest have colonised it. Costs £25 a head for food, lunch £10-£15 without drinks.