After nearly six months of being closed, the South Shore Road institution, Henry VIII, reopened to the pleasure of diners last Thursday evening.

Shut down earlier in the year, the Southampton establishment was struck by a kitchen fire on January 14. And while the fire was contained to the kitchen, little was left.

“Fortunately, the Fire Service arrived here in 15 minutes,” said assistant manager, Jane Staines. “It could have been a lot worse.

“Literally, everything was gone,” she continued. “All that was left was a shell.”

Originally, the management at Henry VIII, which comes under the umbrella of the Longbotham Boats Company, had hoped that the restaurant and bar would reopen within three months, as was reported by The Royal Gazette last January. However, while it has taken longer for the famous eatery to re-establish itself, it is certain that the restaurant has returned to its former glory with a new, state-of-the-art kitchen.

Much of the work was coordinated by architect, Claudia Richardson-Botelho, of Botelho Wood Architects. Ms. Botelho also served as the project manager on the reconstruction, directing Island Home Development, who served as the project’s general contractor. Other major partners included C&C Solutions (plumbing), Telford Electric (electrician) and Bermuda Alarm Co. (alarms).

The new kitchen was designed by Ken Iversen at ICG Iversen Consulting, through Butterfield and Vallis. It features all new equipment supplied by Edward Don, one of the biggest suppliers of kitchen and foodservice equipment and supplies around the world.

In addition to the completely reworked kitchen, the management took the opportunity to make other improvements to the restaurant and property.

“We went through the whole building,” explained managing director, John Ferris. “It’s had a good facelift.”

Upgrades were made to the bar and bathrooms, improvements were made to the stage and a dance floor was installed. Also, a wrought iron and mahogany railing, new textiles and ceramic tiles were added.

Meeting their May 31 deadline seemed to be touch and go, but, according to Mr. Ferris, all the workers involved contributed greatly to the on-time opening.

“Nearly all the construction workers worked until 9 or 10 at night,” he said.

The company is also grateful to its insurance company, Colonial, and agent, Jennifer Murdoch.

“They’ve been very cooperative,” Mr. Ferris added.