• Martin Kuczmarski was COO of Soho House before stepping down to open The Dover restaurant in London.
• He says its success shows that old-school hospitality is still valued.
• Kuczmarski thinks some members' clubs have lost their way.

Martin Kuczmarski has a bone to pick with private members' clubs.

Since stepping down as COO of Soho House in 2022, he's watched on as operators including restaurant group Cipriani and hotel chain Aman have opened their own ventures — and is not entirely impressed.

"The original idea was to get the right people in the right room for the right objective," Kuczmarski told Business Insider. "The purpose of members' clubs has changed — and a lot of people have become greedy."

Kuczmarski worked in luxury hospitality at Michelin-starred restaurants and five-star hotels before being recruited by Soho House founder Nick Jones. Over 15 years, he helped turn the business with a handful of locations in London and New York into a household name.

By the time Kuczmarski left, Soho House had about 120,000 members across dozens of sites in 10 countries.

About a year later, Kuczmarski opened his first solo project: The Dover, a New York-Italian restaurant in London's ritzy Mayfair neighborhood.

The dishes are simple yet elevated — think spaghetti meatballs and burgers served on fine-bone china. Kuczmarski, who has Polish and Italian heritage, jokes that the menu he crafted is basically food he'd ask for if he knew it was his last meal.

The Dover has since become one of "the hottest" restaurants in London, which Kuczmarski says proves that old-school hospitality is still valued amid a wider industry push for tech-driven innovation.

"What I've done with The Dover is go backward," he said. "Maybe it's time for the members' club to go backward."

Putting old-school hospitality back on the menu

If you manage to clinch a reservation at The Dover, for which Kuczmarski said he spends up to four hours a day fielding requests, it won't take long to catch what he means by going backward.

Upon entering, you're greeted by staff who, instead of whipping out a tablet, flick through a large reservation book scrawled with handwritten details. Wait staff behind the bar and on the floor wear double-breasted jackets.

You'll hear the Kuczmarskis' private record collection playing on vinyl — featuring the likes of Bill Withers, Bob Marley, and Sade. The music will be audible, but not so loud you'll have to raise your voice to be heard or miss the clink of forks on china plates.

Through the bar and into the dining room, you'll see a black-and-white checked floor inspired by The Ritz in Paris and a curved wooden-paneled ceiling — nods to the Orient Express and the French Riviera.

Each bespoke table is covered in three layers of white tablecloths, which Kuczmarski says helps absorb noise, and topped with real flowers and candles.

Each detail is intended to evoke intimacy and connection, key elements of classic luxury hospitality that Kuczmarski believes are disappearing.

Although A-listers such as Paul Mescal have been spotted at The Dover, Kuczmarski says, "You don't have to be loud, you don't have to be big, you don't have to be arrogant, you don't have to be expensive, to succeed."

The next mission

Ahead of a stock market listing in New York in July 2021 as the Membership Collective Group, he says his schedule morphed into endless conferences, Zoom meetings, and flying between cities, leaving little time for the people-facing tasks he prefers.

In a way, Soho House lost its soul. "The personality, the human touch, was disappearing," Kuczmarski says.

Some Soho House members may agree, with some believing its origins as a meeting place for creative types is at odds with rapid expansion.

A year ago, the company said it was pausing new memberships in London, New York, and Los Angeles amid criticism about the quality of service and overcrowding.

The shares were priced at $14 for the IPO but have since struggled and closed on Monday at $4.71, valuing the company at $917 million.

Kuczmarski wouldn't be drawn on Soho House specifically, but says he's proud of what he accomplished alongside Jones, who stepped down as CEO in late 2022, and that the company's new management team is "very good."

Given his time at Soho House, Kuczmarski says it's only natural that people ask if opening his own club is on the agenda.

With the success of The Dover under his belt, it seems he may consider the idea: "Something in my stomach is burning now to show how to do members' clubs — to get it right."

In the meantime, Kuczmarski is also planning a second restaurant in London, which he hopes to open next summer, as well as a 60-room designer hotel in Italy.