Kettner's on Romilly Street: 1867 to the Champagne Bar

Kettner's sits at 29 Romilly Street, on the corner with Greek Street, a few doors down from L'Escargot. Behind a Grade II frontage are seven townhouses, a restaurant, a Champagne Bar and 33 bedrooms. It has been a Soho fixture since 1867, which in this part of town makes it positively elderly.

1867 and the chef to an emperor

Auguste Kettner opened the restaurant in 1867. He is reputedly the former chef to Napoleon III, and he is usually described as German. The place is billed as one of London's first French restaurants, and the claim is made with varying degrees of confidence, so call it one of the first and nobody will argue.

The neighbourhood was then of fairly low repute, and History Hit says the restaurant was expected to be short-lived. Wikipedia adds that crowds stayed small until a letter in The Times praised the cooking in 1879, and that visits from the Prince of Wales around 1890 then filled the room. Time Out says the future Edward VII wooed Lillie Langtry here. A secret tunnel to the Palace Theatre is repeated as a rumour, and it should stay one.

The building

It began as four Georgian townhouses, with three added later. Upstairs were the cabinets particuliers, small private dining rooms, and these are now the bedrooms. According to Jancis Robinson, the kitchen is now in the basement, whereas originally it was open and customers could be taken on tours of it.

Time Out says Kettner's survived the Blitz. Churchill, Agatha Christie, Bing Crosby and Margaret Thatcher are among the names linked to the place, and Edward and Wallis Simpson are mentioned too, though that one is only rumour.

Oscar Wilde

Almost every account names Oscar Wilde as a patron. History Hit says he was a regular and that Kettner's is believed to have been his venue of choice, and Christopher Fowler's blog says he had liaisons in the private rooms. All of that is reputation rather than documentation, so he is best described as said to be a regular. It makes a good story at the bar, all the same.

Pizza Express and the champagne bar years

Pizza Express founder Peter Boizot bought Kettner's, and the company owned it from around 1980. Jancis Robinson, who ran neighbouring L'Escargot, saw it as a threat to her business in the 1980s. She also remembers a glorious champagne bar and a piano bar there.

Later write-ups describe a brasserie, a cocktail and champagne bar and seven private rooms. We Are The City says the bar listed over 100 champagnes, 11 by the glass, with two bookable nooks. Another account mentions Laurent-Perrier tastings and a free Tuesday jazz night called Gin, Fizz and Jazz. Wallpaper says the restaurant closed in 2016, ending a run that began in 1867.

Soho House and the building now

Kettner's reopened in 2018 under Soho House, after a full refurbishment. Founder Nick Jones has said it had been on his radar since the 1980s. History Hit says the artwork was inspired by lost murals found during the renovation. The original Soho House at 40 Greek Street shares a tiny courtyard with it, and Monocle notes that Boizot thought the courtyard was his.

Time Out's verdict on the revival was that order had been restored. It lists Kettner's as a recommended French restaurant, in price band 2 of 4.

Going now

Unlike most Soho House properties, Kettner's is open to non-members. Soho House lists hours of half seven in the morning to midnight Monday to Wednesday, to one on Thursday to Saturday, and eight until eleven on Sunday. Booking is through OpenTable, which gives £26 to £40 a head.

• The room: Monocle describes a tiled 1920s floor in the lobby, leading left to a horseshoe-shaped, marble-topped champagne bar with ochre and sienna banquettes. Take a seat at the bar, with a glass of champagne.
• The table: the seasonal French bistro menu names Terrine de Campagne, Poulet aux Morilles and Côte de Boeuf. Order the côte de boeuf if there are two of you.
• Access: there are two steps from the street at the frontage, and flat access is next door on the left, via a buzzer.