Soho House Will Reopen One of London’s Original French Restaurants

Soho House Group, the global members club, hotel and restaurant operators, will re-open Kettner’s, the 150-year-old iconic French restaurant, which closed before their acquisition in 2015. Kettner’s Townhouse will open — as a champagne bar, restaurant and guesthouse — in January next year.

Thought to be one of London’s original French restaurants, Auguste Kettner, chef to Napoleon III, opened the restaurant on the corner of Greek Street and Romilly Street in Soho in 1867. It is said to have been among the writer Oscar Wilde’s preferred venues in London.

Last year the Evening Standard reported that none of the restaurant’s employees would be retained following Soho House’s acquisition, causing many to assume that it would relinquish much of its idiosyncratic character and history — just another victim of the ultra-competitive and unforgiving commercial property market in central London.

Eater London does understand however that the new operators have discovered many of the restaurant’s historical recipes, which will be implemented as part of this reiteration. The upstairs of the building, previously a collection of dining rooms, have been converted into 33 bedrooms, in a move that replicates the group’s operation two streets away at Dean Street Townhouse.

Soho House said today that “the 150-year-old French restaurant and champagne bar has been restored, with the addition of 33 bedrooms, and renamed Kettner’s Townhouse. The bedrooms have been individually designed and feature original Georgian timber floorboards, antique fireplaces and a mix of new furniture and vintage pieces including Art Nouveau chandeliers.”

Meanwhile, two years after closing for a major refurbishment, the original Soho House (next door to Kettner’s) will also reopen in early 2018. The group says its “design team are putting the finishing touches to Soho House 40 Greek Street ready to reopen in early 2018. The club still features many favourites, such as the Circle Bar, the Yellow, Red and Blue Rooms plus lots more space for members and an extended roof terrace.”