Review: CHAT NOIR! by The Lost Estate

Photo: Nick Ray

Chat Noir! is the latest immersive dining experience from The Lost Estate - the company behind festive mainstay The Great Christmas Feast, Paradise Under The Stars and the Peckham-based 58th Street. Running out of their unassuming West Kensington venue until 28th June, the show transports guests back to the infamous Montmartre club of the same name - which was the birthplace of modern cabaret and a notorious watering hole for Paris' fledgling bohemian artists and writers - for a hedonistic evening of art, absinthe and anarchy.

The year is 1896, and for Rodolphe Salis, the impresario of Le Chat Noir, time is of the essence. The club's grand reopening following a short closure to electrify the venue has arrived, and although two of the show's three acts have been perfected, the finale is still unwritten. Due to Salis' ailing health, it’s his last chance to cement the club's place in the history books and secure his legacy once and for all. With a troupe of Paris' best performers scheduled to perform, the stage is set for greatness, provided that Salis can deliver an ending in time...

Photo: Nick Ray

Stepping inside The Lost Estate’s West Kensington home, guests are transported back to 1800s Montmartre almost instantly, thanks to a series of highly themed corridors which snake back on themselves through numerous twists and turns and provide a brief history of the club and its inhabitants.

After passing through a huge cloth recreation of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen's infamous poster for the club, which serves as a great photo opp, guests move through to the club’s main reception, where they’re handed a printed copy of the Le Chat Noir newspaper (the real-life club published a weekly magazine of the same name in its heyday) and are escorted to their table by one of Le Chat Noir’s cat-mask-wearing ‘pussycats’.

Inside Le Chat Noir, there are four tiers of seating available, with tables of various sizes surrounding the club's central wooden stage. Those looking to push the boat out can spring for one of the plush velvet-lined VIP booths, which come with complimentary arrival drinks, an after-dinner digestif and canapes, while budget-conscious bohemians can opt for raised rail seats on the outer edges of the room or the stage-side seats that place you on the venue's main floor. Regardless of ticket type, an era-appropriate three-course haute cuisine menu is included, which is presented in between the show's three main acts by an attentive serving team.

Photo: Nick Ray

The club itself, which is adorned on all sides by framed paintings, vintage signage, huge French flags and draped fabric, is beautifully realised and instantly evokes the feeling of late-1800s Art Nouveau. The centre of the room is flanked by long ceiling-mounted panels adorned with flowing, intricate line work; tables are illuminated by either candles or coloured lamps, which give the space a warm glow; and tiny details - from cat engravings and collections of Venetian masks to lights in the shape of hand fans - are scattered throughout the space, making the space feel lived in and the result of countless small additions over the years.

On stage, proceedings begin with the enigmatic Rodolphe Salis (Joe Morrow) welcoming the audience to Le Chat Noir. Setting the tone for what's to come, Salis remarks how his club is 'the only address in Paris where it's advised to arrive utterly pissed', before introducing the show's impressive line-up of artists - muse Yvette Guilbert (Issy Wroe Wright), dancer Cléo de Mérode (Coco Belle), mime Paul Legrand (Alexander Luttley) and magician Joseph Bautier (Neil Kelso).

Photo: Hanson Leatherby

The opening act of the show, dubbed 'Art', sees each of them perform in the round, flanked by the club's house band, Les Enfants Vagabondes (Guy Button, Peteris Sokolovskis, Alex Ullman, Will Fry and Áine McLoughlin). From the off, each act both subverts and exceeds expectations. Take Luttley's take on a classic clowning routine, which sees them transform a dress suspended from a coat hanger into a living, breathing lover. Rather than leaning into the tenderness of newfound romance, things go in a wildly different direction, with a bitter love triangle emerging that soon escalates to violence and betrayal.

Matching Luttley's mesmerising performance is Issy Wroe Wright, who's excellent as Yvette Guilbert, and imbues the role with lashings of risqué humour, thanks to numerous crude hand gestures and some post-coital heavy breathing. Coco Belle's captivating dance routine also dazzles, and sees her oscillate between manic laughter and tears as she playfully toys with the crowd.

Alongside Neil Kelso's impressive feat of mentalism, which involves numerous audience members picking tarot cards, postcards and paintbrushes at random before revealing a painting that matches all of those random choices, there are several moments in which Morrow's Salis interacts directly with the audience, including a room-wide call to action in which everyone is told to scream 'I WANT YOU!' as loud as possible to their companions and some light crowd work, where everything from patrons' professions to aftershave choices is commented upon.

Concluding the first act is a sardonic musical number that condemns theatre critics, which, understandably, played particularly well on press night...

Photo: Nick Ray

During the first show's interval, there are playful one-on-one interactions on offer with some of the waitstaff, including Gigi, the self-described 'Absinthe fairy', who works their way around the room and quizzes guests on their personalities and preferences to determine the ideal selection from the Absinthe menu for the upcoming 'Green Hour'. While absinthe is available in a frappe or a regular glass with water and a sugar cube on the side, Chat Noir also offers up a 2-person fontaine, which slowly drips ice-cold water onto a sugar cube resting above each glass, releasing its botanicals and turning the drink cloudy.

It's almost certainly over the top and takes up a fair amount of the available table space, but it's too good an offer to turn down and sets guests up for the show's enthralling second act, 'Absinthe', which sees Cléo de Mérode and Paul Legrande beautifully perform an abstract, green fairy-induced routine while Salis' narration echoes through the room.

Photo: Joe and Charlotte

So, how does Anarchy, the show's final, unwritten act, come together? Well, alongside an incredibly blue poem that builds and builds and a brief detour into medieval times where Salis is knighted with a baguette and then promptly beheaded, the bulk of the finale is devoted to a hastily put-together abridged version of Georges Bizet's 1875 opera, Carmen. Expect a choir of meowing, a burlesque routine, lots of audience participation, and, to round things off, the can-can.

The show's final few moments see Salis deliver a rousing speech about the value of creating art before the troupe take their bows, but in keeping with the show's constant anti-establishment ethos, Salis walks away with his middle fingers raised to the audience. While it never quite reaches the potential of the act's name, landing closer to 'organised chaos' than 'anarchy', it's still an absolute riot from start to finish.

Photo: Joe and Charlotte

Chat Noir's three-course Menu Du Jour has been designed by The Lost Estate's executive chef, Ashley Clarke, and draws inspiration from haute cuisine. Upon arrival, there are cornichons, a generous helping of bread, and house pâté with brandy and vermouth already laid out on each table. Following the first act, Chat Noir's main course comes in the form of Coq au Vin with pomme purée, and rounding things off is a delicious Tarte au citron.

The vegetarian options see the starter become a wild mushroom pâté, followed by a vegetable farce with truffled spinach and pommes duchesse, and for an additional charge, supplementary non-vegetarian dishes are also available, including snails with garlic butter, frog's legs, and a platter of French cheese or cured sausage.

Alongside the fixed menu, there's an extensive drinks menu, which includes the previously mentioned absinthe, alongside all the usual staples such as champagne and wine and numerous enticing bourbon, gin and cognac-based cocktails. During our visit, we sampled a number of these, including the Corpse Reviver, which our server took special care to warn us was very strong. We're happy to confirm they weren't lying, and it lives up to the name...

Photo: Hanson Leatherby

While the price of entry for Chat Noir! is certainly high when compared to non-dining experiences (prices start at £129.85 per person for access to the show and the three-course meal), it's an experience that's truly second to none.

The Lost Estate has long had a reputation for being the master of immersive dining experiences, and Chat Noir! proves that it's more justified. It's both a heartfelt love letter to the power of creating art and an intoxicating mix of great food, strong drinks, and incredible performances. You'll struggle to find a better night out in London this year.

If Rodolphe Salis spent the final years of his life trying to secure his legacy and create a piece of work that would go down in history, it's easy to imagine that he'd be ecstatic at the idea of being immortalised in this way, some 130 years on from his death. Given the show's tongue-in-cheek denouncement of theatre critics, we'll assume he'd have paid little mind to our personal thoughts on it, but as for the show itself? Salis would be proud.

★★★★★

[Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review]

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The Lost Estate's Chat Noir! runs at 9 Beaumont Avenue near West Kensington station until 28th June 2026. Tickets are priced from £129.85 per person and include a three-course meal. For more information and to book tickets, visit chatnoirlondon.com