The Beast in Marylebone

The Beast

Why The Beast Came to Marylebone

What brought The Beast to Marylebone? These sophisticated streets seem a long way from the wilderness and windswept coasts where our food is found.

We don’t see a tension between the world of the Beast and modern urban living. The city hasn’t tamed the Beast – we’re here to re-wild it.

The wilder history of Marylebone

Erase the current sleek streets, the wine bars and the appealing little shops of Marylebone High Street. Three hundred years ago, like most of London, this was a live-on-your-wits place, an intoxicating blend of riches, poverty, crime, success, arts, science, humans, animals… Barely out of its rural infancy, the fields of Marylebone found themselves hemmed into elegant but prescriptive Georgian squares and grids. But the wildish nature remained.

There were still plenty of green spaces in this part of town. A rival? A scoundrel? An unforgivable insult? We’ll meet in Marylebone Gardens, sir, and we’ll see who prevails. As well as duels, the Gardens were the place to go to embrace Central London’s wilder side. Bear baiting, the challenge of man v beast, and prize fighting (for both male and female pugilists), brought crowds of thrill-seekers to the Marylebone Gardens. Decadent, indulgent, and just-within-the-law.

Renaissance men rubbed shoulders with raffish types, from Lutyens to Lennon, Babbage to Blunt and Burgess. Conversation has always flowed in Marylebone and Mayfair – and still does, hence our communal tables.

Finding food

Hungry beasts will gravitate towards the city, and we’re no exception. London is and always has been a port city, the hub of Britain’s more exotic foodstuffs since the first century. Wines, spirits, spices – all those things that make life worthwhile.

Food also used to be homegrown in Marylebone, and hunting for succulent prey is in this district’s blood. The manor of Tyburn was once a deer park, gifted to Henry VIII as Marylebone Park. Let out to farmers after the dissolution, some of this land eventually became Regents Park, and the rest became the elegant streets where this Beast finally settled.

Today’s London is a larder rather than a producer of food. As ever, food comes here from all over the globe – in our case, Scandinavian seafood and the finest beef sourced from Scotland, Spain, Nebraska, Japan. Our wine arrives from the world’s most renowned vineyards (we may embrace the wilderness, but we’re not uncivilised).

The Beast today

You’ll discover the Beast’s restaurant in Marylebone behind the black door. Here, you’ll experience feasting as it used to be, with long, candle-lit tables reminiscent of an old Marylebone hunting lodge. Where once Tudor diners shared the kill from the deer park, the Beast’s guests now feast on our carefully sourced meat and seafood. Additionally, indulge in the intimate experience of our Private Dining options, where you can savour the ambiance and culinary delights in exclusive seclusion.

We’ve brought the forest indoors, cooking our succulent meats on British charcoal, made using an ancient process from alder, oak, birch and chestnut. Even with the sophistication of the contemporary city kitchen, nothing touches our taste buds and speaks to our ancient appetites like the aroma of cooking with fire. Long, slow exposure to smoke creates a flavour like no other.

City dining hasn’t tamed the Beast one bit: rather, we’ve brought that visceral edge to our restaurant in Marylebone.