Cafe Society: Exclude me in

A new bar is opening on the edge of Soho next week, but it's likely that most of us boys and girls about town won't ever get through the designer glass front doors. Like an ever-increasing number of watering holes in the West End, Teatro, which is owned by ex-footballer Lee Chapman and his actress wife Leslie Ash, is members only.

"We don't want the riff raff!" says Membership Secretary Victoria Winkworth candidly. "We want the right clientele, celebrities, PRs, people in TV, radio and advertising. We want to give them somewhere they can have a drink, in privacy, away from prying eyes."

In return members pay pounds 300 per year plus a pounds 150 joining fee or pounds 1500 for life membership. Applications, which must be accompanied by a CV, are processed by Victoria and then considered by a committee of 15.

So who decides whether you are in with the in crowd or out in social Siberia>

"It's a secret committee," says Victoria. "I can't give that information out."

MEMBERS ONLY BARS... AND HOW TO GET INTO THEM

Teatro, 93-107 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 0171 494 3040

If you fancy your chances applications for membership are still being considered. Another way to visit the bar is befriend a member, they are allowed up to 3 guests.

Non-members can still book tables in the restaurant (consultant chef is Gordon Ramsay) but bookings are already being taken for Christmas!

Met Bar, The Metropolitan Hotel, Old Park Lane, W1. 0171 447 5757

Non-members can actually sup in the bar from 8.30am when it opens for brekkie until 5pm. OK, so the atmosphere may not be quite the same as 2am on Saturday morning but you can at least say you've been there!

Or you could do what one group of out-of-towners did. When they were refused entry they booked three rooms in the hotel so they could get into the bar as residents. It cost pounds 800 before a single Martini passed their lips.

If you want to join, the good news is that membership is free, the bad news is that there's a waiting list of 2,000.

Momo, 25 Heddon Street, W1. 0171 434 4040

You can probably drink in the downstairs bar if you're not a member at the beginning of the week but at weekends it's members only. Ring first to check there isn't a private party going on.

If you want to join, it's not easy. Membership is by invitation only and is currently closed.

Quo Vadis, 26-29 Dean Street, W1

Since October, the DNA bar at Damien Hirst's gaff has become members only after 10.30pm.

Membership is free but you need to be nominated by an existing member or it's at the discretion of the bar manager who presumably now has lots of new friends.