Kettner’s Townhouse

Step inside Kettner’s, and you can’t help but wonder: “If these walls could talk, they’d have some serious secrets to spill”. Sure, every inch of Soho has its own rich history, but Kettner’s has seen it all. Established in 1867 by Auguste Kettner (rumoured to have been the chef for Napolean III), Kettner’s was one of the first restaurants in London to serve French food, and it became popular with King Edward VII (who apparently courted his mistress, Lillie Langtry, here), as well as with Winston Churchill, Agatha Christie, Oscar Wilde, Bing Crosby and Margaret Thatcher. Now, after extensive refurbishments and extensions, Kettner’s will open once again to the public, with its adjacent Champagne bar and 33 bedrooms on the upper floors. Downstairs in the restaurant, the menu will be inspired by the history of the building, with locally sourced ingredients from the UK. Soho House’s DNA appears in the details – and we expect in the modernised menu too, but this is Kettner’s through and through: a new chapter for a Soho stalwart.