Butler's Pantry - The "Serving Pantry"

Location

The Butler's Pantry is located on the northwest corner of the State Floor of the White House, adjacent to the State Dining Room and the Family Dining Room.

Description and Use

The Butler's Pantry is a space that allows food prepared in the kitchen to be raised from the Kitchen Pantry on the ground floor and delivered to the State Dining Room or the Family Dining Room and is therefore sometimes called the "Serving Pantry." The Butler's Pantry includes two dumbwaiters for raising food (and lowering dishes) as well as a small elevator and spiral staircase to allow staff to discreetly go up and down between pantries.

Although subdivided from the adjacent dining room even before the 1814 fire, this room originated in Andrew Jackson's time as a locked "vault" to protect the new silver collection after the steward and his wife were replaced only by a Belgian chef who did not sleep in the mansion with the silver at his bedside.

The low ceiling in the Butler's Pantry allows for a Pastry Kitchen on the mezzanine directly above it.

Images

The following images illustrate the various features inside the Butler's Pantry.