Fucina in Marylebone is a beautiful and carefully designed restaurant cooking up organic, tasty and sophisticated Italian dishes, accompanied by an elaborate wine list.
Located on the ground floor of a new luxury apartment development in Marylebone, about a stone's throw from the popular Chiltern Firehouse, Italian restaurant Fucina with a focus on organic produce invites you into its rustic yet modern dining room.
The first impression revived old memories of Latin lessons and a study visit to Rome many years ago in school, as we were greeted by radiant receptionists looking like they were wearing a contemporary cut on red dresses that I image well-of ladies could have been wearing in ancient rome. Luckily, the beauty of Fucina does not stop at the door. The entire restaurant is thoughtfully designed to create a warm atmosphere - from the massive, mutedly coloured windows, the chunky, wooden tables to the intriguing and weird wooden ceiling. At the same time, the restaurant also adds progressive design elements to avoid sliding into a rustic, Italian cliché and instead finding a fine balance between traditional style and modernity.
Throughout the evening, service was impressive and whenever I could not decide which wine to order - and that is whenever I order any wine - I was treated to two or three samples, to help me making up my mind. To me, that was also an excellent way to showcase the interesting wine selection.
After randomly bumping into a friend on Marylebone High Street, we quickly agreed to start our spontaneous dinner with a Franciacorta. This is a great sparkling wine that more restaurants should add to their wine lists. It's a bit like the slightly shy but more interesting and mature sibling of the boastful and omnipresent Prosecco.
We kicked off our dinner with crostini topped with wild boar lardo and truffled honey. Surprisingly, I mostly tasted cheese and truffle, but I was very pleased with that.
After the brilliantly vibrant and tremendously drinkable Franciacorta, we went for a bottle of white wine. I was more than happy to see another gem of Italy that is still hard to find in London: Kerner.
The Kerner grape is a cross between the typical German grapes Riesling, white, and Trollinger, red. The 2015 vintage of the Kerner from Abbazia di Novacella, growing in Valle Isarco, Alto Adige, Italy, was a revelation. The wine was very smooth, easy to drink and hit the perfect balance between fruity and dry. The characteristic mineral notes of the Riesling grape also camd through a bit, which made it all the more enjoyable to drink.
Followig the crostini, I had a delicious, rich pheasant in its own great sauce with polenta and chestnut salsa. It was another celebration of flavours. Admittedly, the dish was not huge, but at least that way it left enough space for dessert.
To satisfy my sweet tooth, I chose the chocolate pralinat with milk ice cream. The intense, strong chocolate in combination with crunchy chocolate wafers and refreshing ice cream was a true winner. My friend had the panna cotta which tasted nice, but we felt the texture was too soft and runny - between both dishes, the chocolate plate definitely came out on top.
As we had not seen each other for months, we kept on chatting, so I decided to get the cheese selection as well. Overall, I am not the biggest fan of the cheeses. They were all okay, for me however, simply not as outstanding as the other dishes.
I ended the evening with a glass of a beautiful, light red wine. Unfortnately, I cannot give a more detailed recommendation, as I forgot what wine it was exactly. But if you ask for a light red, I am sure the serviceable staff can help you out.
When we asked for the bill, I was a bit startled to see the amount we managed to rack up throughout our lavish dinner. Clearly, Fucina is not the restaurant of choice for a cheap meal.
To sum it up, if you value organic food, interesting Italian wines and good service in combination with a friendly atmosphere supported by warm and modern design, Fucina in Marylebone is a new place worthy of your attention. read more