London matcha brand JENKI has opened its new Soho matcha bar on Thursday 3 September, revealing a new space inspired by the Japanese tea fields where matcha begins.

Bringing JENKI to the heart of Soho for the first time, the new bar has been designed by female led London studio KAI Interiors, combining natural clay, timber and fibres with industrial stainless steel, while translating the patterns, curves and dappled shade of Japanese tea fields throughout the interior.

KAI Interiors, whose hospitality projects include Tamila in King’s Cross and Lucy Wong in Soho, developed a design language centred around the repetition and rhythm of tea cultivation.

“We wanted the Soho bar to feel quite different to the energy outside,” says Claudia Boyer, co-founder of JENKI. “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.”

The landscape is referenced through a series of recurring forms and materials, with curved wood grain across the floor echoing the rows of tea plants and the same sense of movement carried into the natural curves of the clay walls.

Overhead, fabric lighting sails create a softer, dappled quality of light, referencing the shade used during Japanese tea cultivation, when tea plants are covered ahead of harvest. A palette of dark greens, natural clay, timber and natural fibres is contrasted with stainless steel across the working elements of the bar, balancing earthy, tactile materials with a clean, modern elements.

A bespoke wallscape by Sow Embroidery Studio depicts Japanese tea fields through embroidery, adding a tactile interpretation of the landscape to the space.

JENKI’s matcha whisking station sits at the heart of the bar, making the preparation process a focal point of the customer experience. Matcha is freshly whisked to order in view of guests, creating a more immersive experience around the ritual and craft of preparation, using JENKI’s first harvest matcha sourced directly from Japan.

Away from the counter, seating alcoves create more intimate spaces within the bar, conceived as a retreat from the pace of Soho outside. A dedicated retail area has also been integrated into the interior to showcase JENKI’s matcha, preparation tools and new lifestyle collection.

The project brings together KAI Interiors on concept and interior design, Storey as project managers, Box3 as contractors.

The Soho opening forms part of JENKI’s wider London expansion, with the brand planning to grow to 11 locations across the capital by the end of 2026.