This is a marvellous late Victorian edifice faced in red brick and pink terracotta. The splendid interior boasts polished wood and plasterwork; note the double faced clock. Many original features remain or have been superbly replaced after WW2 bomb damage but the windowpanes are more recent, having been blown out by another bomb attack in 1975 on a nearby restaurant.
Iwan and Manuela Wirth, the Swiss owners of the Fife Arms, in Braemar, Scotland, took on the pub lease via their hospitality company Artfarm and substantial renovation took place. The Audley Public House is at ground level and Mount St. Restaurant is on the first floor. The remaining three floors have rooms available for hire; the Swiss Room, the Scottish Room, and the Games Room. All the areas are designed to showcase art from the Hauser & Wirth art galleries. The spectacular pub ceiling is a specially commissioned work by the late British artist Dame Phyllida Barlow. According to the venue website, she created a collaged mosaic of hand painted paper in a range of hot colours, inspired by the curvature of the pub windows. Above the bar is a neon ‘FRIENDS’ sign by Turner Prize winner Martin Creed, and on the wall at the back of the room hangs an artwork by Mark Campbell.
Two ales are from Sambrook's. Bar snacks include Scotch eggs, pints of prawns, and cockles in malt vinegar. Bar food prices are what you might expect for Mayfair; check the chalkboard for daily offerings, and Sunday roasts are also available downstairs.
The upstairs restaurant has gained a very good reputation since it opened, and it is stated that King Charles and the Queen have dined here.
Historic Interest
Grade II listed, Historic England reference 1264595. Licensed in 1730 as the Bricklayers Arms and rebuilt by 1889 by James Watney & Co to the plans of Thomas Verity (who designed the exterior of the pavilion at Lord’s Cricket Ground) on condition imposed by the first Duke of Westminster, that it be renamed the Audley Hotel. It is close to the old American embassy in Grosvenor Square and Michelle Obama once ate here to give her children an authentic English pub experience.
A wonderfully opulent pub forming part of a block with shops and houses, designed by Thomas Verity and built in 1888-89 for Watneys Brewery. It is faced with banded red brick and pink terracotta. There is an oriel corner turret with a copper dome. Throughout there is lots of original mahogany panelling including a fine carved bar back, and on the right a carved wood surround fireplace with row of three bevelled mirrors and above a large plain mirror set at an angle. The panelled bar counter is no doubt also original. The doorway between the main bar and a smaller room on the right has pillars with decorative capitals. Lots of good-quality window screens around the exterior. Unique in a pub is the double-faced clock hanging within a mahogany beamed ceiling in the centre of the main bar. Ornate plasterwork ceiling. Note the mosaic floor in the doorway on right-hand side and the glazed screen between the right-hand room and staircase to a restaurant upstairs which is wood-panelled but with modern bar fittings.
A wonderfully opulent pub forming part of a block with shops and houses, designed by Thomas Verity and built in 1888-89 for Watneys Brewery. It is faced with banded red brick and pink terracotta. There is an oriel corner turret with a copper dome. Throughout there is lots of original mahogany panelling including a fine carved bar back, and on the right a carved wood surround fireplace with row of three bevelled mirrors and above a large plain mirror set at an angle. The panelled bar counter is no doubt also original. The doorway between the main bar and a smaller room on the right has pillars with decorative capitals. Lots of good-quality window screens around the exterior. Unique in a pub is the double-faced clock hanging within a mahogany beamed ceiling in the centre of the main bar. Ornate plasterwork ceiling. Note the mosaic floor in the doorway on right-hand side and the glazed screen between the right-hand room and staircase to a restaurant upstairs which is wood-panelled but with modern bar fittings.
This Pub serves no changing beers and 4 regular beers.
Audley, London