Berry Bros. & Rudd
/ About
The Widow Bourne opened a grocer's opposite St James's Palace in 1698, and the business has never traded from anywhere else. Berry Bros. & Rudd is now Britain's oldest wine and spirits merchant, still family-owned, still under the Sign of the Coffee Mill, still at No.3 St James's Street, a building the Pickering family rebuilt in the eighteenth century and left much as it stands. The retail shop has since moved around the corner to Pall Mall. The rooms you hire did not move at all.
Two floors below the pavement is the Napoleon Cellar, a nineteenth-century brick vault named for Louis-Napoleon, who hid there during the Chartist riots and used it to plot his return to France; the truncheon he left behind still hangs in the hallway outside the Pickering Cellar. It takes 72 seated and 120 standing, the largest of the spaces. The Pickering Cellar sits one floor up, formally dated to the seventeenth century, and keeps the original stone floor of the old bottling cellar along with a well that predates Henry VIII, now glazed over so you can look down it. The Sussex Cellar is the modern one: opened in 2015 over two levels by Short & Associates with MJP Architects, interiors by Nicola Crawley of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, reached through a discreet door in Pickering Place. Above ground, the William and Mary Townhouse was designed by Nina Campbell, and the Bourne Room at No.4 is panelled in wood and given over to spirits.
Executive chef Stewart Turner, Michelin-trained, oversees seven dining spaces across No.3 and cooks for everything from a lunch for eight to a banquet. The wine comes off the merchant's own shelves, and three Masters of Wine are among the hosts who will take a table through a tasting. All five spaces are available for private hire, by enquiry.
/ Rooms Available
The Napoleon Cellar
PrivateTwo floors beneath the shop at No.3, a nineteenth-century brick barrel vault named for Louis-Napoleon, who hid here in exile and used the cellars to plan his return to France. A single long table runs the length of it under the arches; the same room takes a walk-around reception, and there is a service counter at one end.
The Sussex Cellar
PrivateThe one space here that was purpose-built, opened in 2015 by Short & Associates with MJP Architects and styled by Nicola Crawley of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. Handmade London tiles form the arches and columns across both levels: drinks on the mezzanine above the glazed opening, dinner on the floor below. Its own discreet entrance is in Pickering Place.
The Bourne Room
PrivateAt No.4, named for the widow who started the business in 1698 and given over to the spirits side of it. A gin and tonic in the anteroom, then a wood-panelled dining room that seats eight, or sixteen standing for a tasting.
The Townhouse
PrivateThe William and Mary house above the cellars, its interiors by Nina Campbell. Drinks are taken by the fire in the Green Room, then the party moves up to the Long Room to sit down. The smallest seated space and the only one with daylight.
The Pickering Cellar
PrivateThe oldest of the cellars, one floor down beneath the shop and Pickering Place, formally dated to the seventeenth century and named for William Pickering. It was the bottling cellar, and the original stone floor is still in place, as is a well predating Henry VIII, now under glass. It is where the wine school teaches.
/ Perfect For
/ Features
Catering
- – In-House Luxury Dining
- – Bespoke Menus
- – Canape Service
- – Sommelier Service
Licensing
- – Full Alcohol Licence
Venue Specs
- – Private Entrance
- – Dedicated Events Team
/ Getting Here
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