Fire cooked food that's flavourful and unintimidating
Pyro has heavy beachside vibes, which is very bold in Southwark but it carries it off in large part because of its surprisingly enormous outdoor area. There is a fully indoor restaurant bit which I completely failed to go into, but is presumably the main focus of Pyro during the colder months. But when I visited at the tail end of a mini heatwave there was no question of going inside – we went for the covered section of the vast terrace, which basically isn't afraid to look like a giant straw-roofed beach hut.
That it doesn't fall over the precipice of novelty is due to the mostly excellent food. Seeking to bring the Aegean beach to the centre of London, you can drop a lot of money on seafood here: £85 for a whole 'flame kissed' lobster or £105 for a 1.5kg Cornish brill. But it's actually a fairly broad spectrum survey of Greek-influenced cuisine, and you don't have to spend big to get something nice. In fact the best thing we ate was quite possibly the £10 crudites platter. A world away from the sorry cucumber and carrot batons that blight every British childhood, this was a pristine plate of some of the freshest crunchiest vegetables I have ever had the pleasure to devour. From shimmering white radishes to chalky summer squash, everything was great, especially when dunked in a goopy/crunchy tarama and carob rusk dip.
There's a very short 'grazing' menu – we had everything on it just to be clear we hadn't missed anything. A spanakopita pastel del nada was basically a fun tart-style presentation of a classic spanakopita; mussel saganaki (a small fried appetiser) was a light, spicy trifle; intense little pork souvlaki skewers got us thoroughly warmed up for some heartier mains 'from the fire'.
The barbecued octopus had a lovely texture – the exact sweet spot between chewy and pliant – although the custardy, yellow split pea accompanying sauce was too rich and threatened to overwhelm. The soft but flavourful whole charred aubergine was much more like it, but the highlight was the side order of 'layered' potatoes. A sort of fantasy hybrid of classic roast potato and pommes anna, it consisted of layered cubes of spud, thinly crispy and lightly spiced on the outside, its inside softly concertina-ing at the press of a tongue on the inside. It was a taste sensation; it was a textural sensation – we ate them all and didn't really have room for any dessert afterwards (the dessert menu is small and while the blackcurrant and almond pie sounded nice it was £19 and apparently pretty huge).
Instead I turned to the extremely fun cocktail list, the creation of London-based Ukrainian mixologist Ana Reznik. I went for the Aegeas: the mix of olive oil–infused dry gin with seaweed and extra dry vermouth was weird in a good way, three warm currents of boozy brine gently percolating around each other.
Pyro is a good times eatery that serves high quality fire cooked food that's flavourful and unintimidating, influenced by the Med but not aiming to school you about the Med. If you're looking to wow a date with high concept dining it's probably not the place – but if you're looking for a relaxed summer night out, this is the one.
The vibe A chilled out terrace taverna in Southwark.
The drink A handful of Greek-hemed cocktails and plenty of Greek wine.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
40 minutes ago
- Metro
‘It was a slap in the face when Ed Westwick got the role I auditioned for'
Sitting at a booth in Soho Theatre's cafe on a Thursday morning, actor Jassa Ahluwalia tells the story of being out for dinner when he received an email about a job that felt like his 'Hollywood moment'. 'It seemed that everything that I'd been working towards was coming to fruition. The universe had beautifully conspired to land this perfect role in my lap,' the 34-year-old tells Metro. Pulling out his phone and opening his inbox, he leans forward to read the message out loud: 'Character breakdown – this is a large supporting character. Note: It is crucial to the narrative and the character's story arc that Brooke is convincingly accepted in aristocratic circles as white British. The character is currently written as having Indian heritage on his mother's side.' 'They were describing me ,' he recalls. Born to a white English mum and a brown Punjabi dad in 1990, Jassa couldn't believe his luck that the TV pirate series, Sandokan, set in South Asia, was being made and he had a chance to play the role of Lord James Brooke. 'It felt like the acting industry was listening, paying attention and caring,' he remembers, his eyes widening at the memory. His self-tape — a short video where Jassa spoke about his heritage and read lines — led to an invitation for a screen test, and in November 2023, Jassa made his way to Bang Studios, just a stone's throw from where he sits today. 'Even just talking about it, my stomach's remembering the emotion. I was tingling, I was so alive,' the actor says. 'It sounds ridiculous, but I was trying to find ways to stay grounded. They had a miniature Buddha with a little tea light in the loo. I had a moment with it, touching its feet while thinking of how far I'd come to get to where I was. I was saying 'Thank you'.' After hair and makeup, Jassa was guided to a room filled with casting directors and producers, all crowded behind a desk with monitors. Over 30 minutes, he performed a scene under lights and cameras, partly in Punjabi, which was, he says, requested by the room. As the meeting ended with hugs, the word 'perfect' was lobbed around, and Jassa felt things couldn't have gone any better. However, on December 15, he got a rejection email. It praised 'utterly wonderful' Jassa for his 'beautiful work', but told him they weren't going to be progressing with him. When Jassa asked for more detailed feedback, he says he was told there was 'nothing constructive to pass on'. 'It was heartbreaking. I didn't know how it was possible to nail it so hard and still not get the gig,' he admits. As an actor since his teens, Jassa was accustomed to the rejection process, so he picked himself up and moved on. That was, until he read in the press a few months later that the role he had auditioned for — Lord James Brooke — had been given to Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick. It was 'like a slap in the face', remembers Jassa. 'They wanted the guy from Gossip Girl that people knew, and all that specificity and vulnerability that I shared didn't count for anything. The whole experience made me feel unimportant – my mix was just a tick box for a second, but it wasn't actually important. 'A little bit of my love for the industry died at that moment. I thought, 'F**k this, why am I pouring my heart and soul into this business?'' Sandokan is a reboot of an Italian TV series that aired in 1976 and was sold to 85 countries. Fremantle-owned Lux Vide is now putting a new spin on it with Can Yaman taking the lead role. It will air on the Italian state broadcaster RAI and be distributed worldwide. Set in the mid-19th century on the island of Borneo, the native Dayak tribes are dominated by ruthless Brits. Sandokan doesn't initially pick a side, but when he marries the daughter of the British consul, Marianne (Alanah Bloor), he begins to fight against colonial powers with his motley crew. The synopsis teases that pirate hunter Lord James Brooke (Ed Westwick) 'will stop at nothing to capture Sandokan and win Marianne's heart.' Angeliqa Devi, who is Bengali, has been announced as playing Brooke's mother, Hita. Jassa says that 'unless there's been a radical change to the script' Ed's character is still mixed. To Jassa's knowledge, an important part of the plot is that people are made to believe that Hita is a servant, not Brooke's parent. The rejection felt extra painful, admits Jassa, because he struggled with an 'obsessive desperation' to succeed due to a complex relationship with his mixed identity. 'It's no coincidence that I associate performing with a feeling of belonging because of an early happy memory I have of dancing Bhangra as a kid on the streets in India,' he explains with a smile, showing a photo from the trip. 'I was always unconsciously trying to get back to that.' Jassa studied at a subsidised arts program in Leicestershire throughout his school years, which made him feel that an acting career was 'tangibly achievable.' His youthful optimism felt well-placed when he landed a role on the BBC coming-of-age series Some Girls, playing lovable bad boy Rocky in 2012. 'I had a few years of things snowballing with parts in Casualty, Peaky Blinders, Ripper Street and The Whale. I was around a crowd of people, like John Boyega and David Gyasi, who were bubbling then blowing up. I thought it was going to happen for me, and then… it didn't. 'There had been a shift in the industry towards trying to tell more representative stories, but my voice wasn't welcome in that conversation,' he says of the 2010s. 'It was surface-level, productions just wanted to look diverse.' Jassa became increasingly frustrated with a landscape where the role of mixed-race characters felt more like an exercise rather than a thoughtful process, despite being the fastest-growing demographic in the UK. He cites one episode of Line of Duty where they say one of the suspects is mixed race [in the opener of season five, Vihaan Malhotra is asked to describe the woman who has been blackmailing him], 'but they don't say what mix, but everyone is like 'cool, understood'.' In 2019, Jassa felt a desire to take action after a follower responded to a video of him speaking Punjabi on social media, expressing shock at his fluency due to him being 'only half'. The actor quickly replied that he was 'both, not half', which went on to become a popular hashtag, as well as a TEDx Talk, documentary, and a book deal. As he grew more vocal, Jassa also became increasingly keen to incorporate his heritage into his acting. 'I wanted to bring my Punjabi-ness to work, because for years it felt like it was going to limit me,' he explains. 'It wasn't somebody explicitly sitting me down and saying, 'You should never talk about your Punjabi heritage', but the little signals I got were that to get ahead, you need to conform as much as you possibly can.' When asked what needs to change to strip these attitudes, Jassa — who is a member of Equity, the UK's trade union for the performing arts and entertainment industries — has a list ready and reaches into his rucksack to pull out a notebook filled with pages of scribbles. Although, he barely needs to glance at them: equality, finances, and intention need to be addressed, he explains. 'In any recruitment process, you expect people to be treated the same. I was asked in my audition to riff in Punjabi. Was Ed Westwick asked to do that?' Moving to his next point, he says: 'It all comes down to money. We're living in a time where the arts are increasingly under attack, so people in power are making safer choices, which uphold what has gone before. 'We're not getting any radical shift forward in this climate, so audiences are being deprived of incredible, world-changing, creative work from talented people who need to prioritise feeding their families, so leave the industry. 'Ed's involvement was probably a lot easier to justify to the finance team than mine, but we need to be thinking of why we are telling stories. Is it a white presenting mixed character for exotic dramatic intrigue, or because they are exploring an underrepresented part of history with sensitivity and authenticity?' As Jassa gets more passionate in his point-making, his voice shakes, and the actor admits: 'I find it hard to balance my personal emotions with my rational union brain.' However, the reason behind it all is simple, he adds: 'These stories should be told because we should be reflecting the society we live in, so everyone feels seen.' More Trending As for Jassa himself, he's in a happy place and is focused on writing more books, spreading his message further to challenge misconceptions and making changes through his role in the union. As he gets set to cycle off to his next engagement, he says: 'Now that I feel I have found a sense of home within myself, I'm not craving it as much from performance. 'I am no longer content to quietly pass as white, I want to assert my Punjabi heritage. I want mixed people on screen as they are, not as ethnically ambiguous shapeshifters. 'Being a chameleon is part of the joy of being an actor, but I want to play with my true colours.' View More » Metro has contacted Fremantle's Lux Vide for comment . Follow Jassa on Instagram here. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: I sold a bikini on a preloved site – now I'm wondering who bought it MORE: We went out with London's 'pickpocket hunter' to watch him sniff out thieves MORE: I'm a part time witch and use my powers to get back at my exes
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Antler's sale axes 'biggest carry-on' cabin bags for Jet2 and Ryanair flyers by £75
Antler has just launched a major summer sale that's slashed the price of this Ryanair, EasyJet and Jet2-approved cabin case, saving shoppers a whopping £75 Antler, the renowned high-end luggage label, is all set for the rest of the travel season, as top items from its latest Icon Collection land on the retailer's massive summer sale. Boasting an impressive 110 years of excellence, the iconic British brand described last summer's Icon collection as "the perfect combination of style and practicality." This range is crafted to suit every kind of trip, whether it's a luxurious long-haul or a swift city break. It includes three distinctive styles: the Icon Stripe Suitcase, Soft Stripe Suitcase, and Discovery Backpack. The Icon Stripe Suitcase, in particular, is causing quite a stir among Antler enthusiasts as it's touted as the "biggest cabin bag" that still meets the size requirements of popular airlines Ryanair, EasyJet, and Jet2. What's more, the Icon Stripe cabin case is currently up for grabs with a major discount. The Icon Stripe Cabin Bag is quite roomy, measuring 39.5 x 58 x 24 cm and weighing a mere 2.8kg. This ensures it fits snugly in the overhead compartments of several budget airlines, helping jet-setters dodge those pesky extra luggage fees at the airport while providing ample space for all their essentials on their next weekend break. For those who often need more packing space when prepping for a trip, the Icon Stripe's generous 55L main compartment will be a godsend. The well-equipped interior features a lining, dual-zip pockets, and compression straps to keep belongings secure. Crafted from top-quality recycled polycarbonate, the Icon Stripe is incredibly sturdy and can handle any airport mishaps or bumping around in the luggage compartment. Plus, it's waterproof, so there's no need to worry about water damage inside the airport or as you make the trip from the airport to your hotel. Not only is it resilient, but this case also glides effortlessly around the airport thanks to its Silent Glide 360 spinner wheels, so you can wave goodbye to the grating sound of rattling wheels or the uncomfortable rocking of uneven wheels as you traverse to your gate. The handle also boasts a bespoke comfort grip. Now reduced to £111, this cabin case comes in a wide range of colours—with alternative-size models available if you'd like to secure the whole set or something bigger to meet your needs—but it's worth noting that the Dune Yellow hue is currently boasting the massive £75 discount. This cabin bag has amassed a majorly impressive 4.9 out of 5-star rating from thrilled Antler shoppers. One buyer beams: "Great purchase. Light and the wheels are amazing. Glides on its own." Further accolades come from this shopper who shares: "A perfect suitcase - you know you're getting old when you ask for a new suitcase for your birthday but I am delighted and now want the bigger one!" A third shares the same sentiments, gushing: "Literally cannot fault this bag in any way. Obviously it's small, but it fits the dimensions for Ryanair flights perfectly too. 10/10." And a fourth chimes in: "Having to use a carry on for the first time ever I was really pleased with the space inside. It has been well thought out with three useful pockets. I got far more in than I thought I would be able to and even have space left over to pop in some gifts for people when I return. Gorgeous colour and so easy to set the lock code. Looking forward to using it shortly for my trip." Though one customer leaves a slightly disheartened 4-star review, noting: "The colour was a little dingier than the sunshine pale lemon I was expecting," that said, they do go on to say this: " but I cannot fault the build and quality. Looking forward to airing her out very shortly!" If you'd rather shop elsewhere and don't mind splashing some cash, check out Kapten & Son's Heathrow Essential Cabin Case for £189.90. Or, if you're keeping to a smaller budget, take a peek at this AVIO Underseat Cabin Bag perfect for easyJet and Wizz Air customers without paying extra for luggage, that's up for grabs on Amazon for £22.60. For something offering a little more personality, Nere's vibrant gelato-inspired cabin range is surely one to bring a smile to shoppers. This is the brand's lightest hard suitcase, engineered with a scratch-resistant PP hard shell for stress-free travel, and it sells for £59.40.
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
The Repair Shop siblings Steve and Suzie Fletcher's ages as they open up on bond
The Repair Shop siblings Steve and Suzie Fletcher are set to open up on their experiences on the show Steve and Suzie Fletcher, the sibling duo from The Repair Shop, are set to appear on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh. Fans of the hit BBC One series are eager to learn more about the pair, including their age difference. Steve Fletcher, known for his expertise in clocks and watches, was the first of the two siblings to join The Repair Shop and has since become a regular fixture on the show. Born in Oxfordshire, the 63 year old professional horologist is a father of five and shares his life with his partner, Mel. His younger sister, Suzie, an expert in leather repair who has opened up about behind the scenes, joined the show later. Inspired by her brother's enjoyment of the series, she decided to come on board, initially joking about being the 'leather girl'. However, after several phone calls, she officially became part of the team. As of August 2024, she was 62 years old. Suzie has since described her decision to join the show as one of the best she's ever made, particularly following the loss of her husband in the US. Despite their close ages, the siblings have carved out their own unique niches within the popular series. Meanwhile, her brother Steve and his partner Mel have been an item for years, residing in Whitney. Steve has kept the family legacy alive by running The Clock Workshop, a business established by his grandfather. It was actually Mel who nudged him to become part of the expert team on The Repair Shop. Suzie herself operates her own workshop in Oxfordshire and holds the title of Master English Saddle Maker. Her passion for horses dates back to her childhood, and she embarked on her journey to become a saddle maker back in 1975. After spending 22 years across the pond in the US, Suzie made her way back to British soil. In a candid chat with The Times, Suzie reminisced about her strong bond with her brother during their younger years. She revealed: "Steve and I definitely shared a lot of strong similarities, and he was the one that took me under his wing. "He's been my rock all my life. Every step. I really didn't think I was confident enough to be on The Repair Shop, but I had the saving grace of Steve being there."
