JENKI’s first Soho bar translates the rhythms and materials of Japanese tea cultivation into a hospitality interior combining visible preparation, intimate seating and an integrated retail offer.
JENKI has opened a new matcha bar in Soho, introducing an interior by KAI Interiors that takes its cues from Japanese tea fields and places the preparation process at the centre of the customer experience. The site opened on 3 September at 100 Berwick Street.
The opening brings JENKI to Soho for the first time. KAI Interiors has combined natural clay, timber and fibres with industrial stainless steel, translating the patterns, curves and changing light associated with tea cultivation into the interior.
The London-based studio, whose hospitality projects include Tamila and Lucy Wong, developed the design language around the repetition and rhythm of tea fields.
“We wanted the Soho bar to feel quite different to the energy outside,”
“The starting point was the tea fields themselves – their shapes, colours and the way light moves across them. KAI have brought those references into the space while keeping the matcha and the way we prepare it at the centre.”
Claudia Boyer, co-founder of JENKI
Tea-Field References Shape the Interior
The landscape references are carried through a series of recurring forms and materials. Curved wood grain across the floor echoes the rows created by tea planting, while the movement continues through the natural curves of the clay walls.
Fabric lighting sails have been suspended overhead to introduce a softer, dappled quality of light. The element references the shading of tea plants ahead of harvest in Japanese tea cultivation.
Dark greens, natural clay, timber and natural fibres form the main material palette, contrasted by stainless steel across the functional areas of the bar.
A bespoke wallscape by Sow Embroidery Studio provides a further interpretation of the landscape, using embroidery to depict Japanese tea fields and introducing another tactile surface within the space.
Preparation and Retail at the Centre
JENKI’s matcha whisking station sits at the centre of the bar, making preparation visible to customers. Drinks are freshly whisked to order using the brand’s first-harvest matcha sourced directly from Japan.
The approach continues an emphasis on visible preparation also seen at JENKI’s redesigned Selfridges London matcha bar earlier this year, where the whisking process was brought to the front of the customer experience.
Away from the main counter, seating alcoves create smaller spaces within the bar, conceived as a contrast to the pace of Soho outside.
Retail has also been incorporated into the interior, with a dedicated area for JENKI’s matcha, preparation tools and new lifestyle collection. The arrangement brings product retail alongside the drinks offer rather than treating it as a separate element of the space.
The project team comprises KAI Interiors on concept and interior design, Storey as project manager and Box3 as contractor.
London Expansion Continues
Founded in 2020 by Claudia and Otto Boyer, JENKI has expanded from market stalls and pop-ups into a network of London matcha bars.
The Soho opening forms part of the brand’s wider expansion plans, with JENKI aiming to grow to 11 locations across the capital by the end of 2026.
Terry Clark is the Publisher and Content Director of 365 Retail, with more than a decade of experience covering retail design, technology innovations, store openings and the wider retail industry. He also works closely with leading retailers, suppliers, agencies, events and industry awards across the UK.
