Last month, Soho House, as per tradition, hosted a Hard Hat pre-opening dinner at the site of its much-anticipated Bangkok club in Sukhumvit. Soho House’s Hard Hat dinners were conceived as a get-together for committee members before a house officially opens, and has remained a celebration of creative communities all over the world.
Hard Hat gatherings are as old as the first Soho House at 40 Greek Street, which opened in 1994 above founder Nick Jones’ restaurant Cafe Boheme in Soho, London. You may not be aware that Soho House's origin came accidentally. "The first House at 40 Greek Street was accidental. Paul Raymond, my landlord, phoned and asked if I would take the floors above Cafe Boheme. Soho was full of creatives then and I just wanted people to go in, have fun, and meet each other,” said Jones.
"My regulars at Cafe Boheme helped me create the first committee and we did a Hard Hat tour in June 1994, with cocktails in cement mixers. People liked it and we opened Soho House in January 1995 with 500 members."
Staff and guests can be seen wearing actual white hard hats in photos from the original Hard Hat celebration 28 years ago.
Soho House Bangkok’s committee, comprised the city’s leading creatives from a range of industries, with dinner prepared by the club’s executive chef, Kesinee Damrongsakul. Picante cocktails was served for notable guests like Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, Kanachai Bencharongkul, Matt Love, Cindy Sirinya Bishop, Patcha Poonpiriya, Pimporn Metchanun, Nick Supreda and Ploy Horwang, who were joined by Soho House’s Thai and global teams. DJs Bomber Selecta and Paulie Sirisant wrapped up the evening.
The price to join the house (or houses) doesn't come cheap. There are three types of memberships: Every House (B135,00 per year with access to all 30 Soho Houses), Local House (B60,000 with access to Bangkok Soho House) and Under 27 (B30,000 with an F&B discount on certain days). More info at sohohouse.com/thailand.
