Marylebone has a new obsession. Fire & Wine by Boxcar is all smoke, sass and bottles that taste like personality in liquid form. This is not dinner. This is foreplay with flame.
The Vibe
Daylight? A terrace that dares you to order a second glass before you’ve finished the first. Nighttime? Copper tables glowing like embers and a room that whispers stay, order more, cancel tomorrow.
The Food
Snacks open the night like good gossip. Polenta chips with chickpea and lovage. Chicken liver parfait with blackberry and brioche. Bream cured in miso and sea buckthorn that slaps you awake. Then the big hitters: monkfish with green garlic, lamb glossed with chamomile butter, beef rib that demands loyalty. Dessert is grilled croissant tiramisu because… why not?
Sundays, But Better
Forget limp roasts. Sunday Feasts here are primal theatre. Prawns charred with lemongrass. Rabbit pressed with grape mustard. Chicken grilled whole, dripping in sauce diable. Picanha carved at the table like a performance. Pork belly with jus so rich it should be taxed. No Yorkshire puds. Instead: Fire Bread, smoky, stock-glazed, built for sauce worship. The finale? A plant-based tarte tatin or yoghurt with grilled pineapple that makes every pub carvery look basic.
Drink With Attitude
The wine list is wild but clever: biodynamic legends, skin-contact troublemakers, old-world charmers. They even made their own rosé with Château Saint-Maur, pale and chic enough to earn its own fan club. Cocktails play dirty too. The Little Pickle (vodka and cornichon brine) is a £6 dare. The Mona Lisa mixes mezcal, marmalade and jalapeño like it’s here to cause chaos.
The Flame Keeper
Head Chef Zisis Gkalmpenis cooks like he means it. Greek roots, Michelin training, a grill that never cools. Every dish feels like a direct message from the fire.
Why It Matters
Because it’s not just another restaurant. It’s the kind of place that hijacks your weekend plans, makes you text “you HAVE to come here,” and leaves you wondering how you ate anywhere else.
London’s sexiest new flame isn’t on Hinge.
23 New Quebec Street, London, United Kingdom W1H 7SD
