From Michelin‑starred fields near Hadrian’s Wall to a vast city rooftop, Pyr brings live‑fire British cooking, North East produce and a new wave of food‑hall culture to Newcastle.
For a country built on coal, weather and long memories, it feels fitting that one of the North’s most anticipated new openings is built entirely around fire. On the rooftop of a former Debenhams in Newcastle, a 60,000 sq ft “Freight Island” is taking shape – part market hall, part cultural playground – and at its centre will be Pyr, a live‑fire restaurant from the team behind Michelin‑starred, Green Star‑holding Restaurant Pine in Northumberland.
Pine, tucked on the edge of Hadrian’s Wall, made its name with almost forensic attention to detail: heritage grains, quietly brilliant vegetable growers, day‑boat fish and game shaped by the seasons rather than the spreadsheet. Pyr will take that same sourcing philosophy but in the city, deliberately louder, looser and more urban. Everything revolves around a custom live‑fire open kitchen, where smoke, char and the crank of a grill do as much of the talking as the chefs.
“Everything we do there will revolve around fire. It’s fast‑moving, open, and built around the very best produce the Northeast has to offer… This isn’t a scaled‑down version of Pine; it’s something entirely new,” says co‑owner Cal Byerley.
In practice, that means day‑boat seafood from the local coast, whole animals and big cuts cooked over coals, vegetables blistered on the grill and desserts that pick up traces of smoke and heat. The menu is designed to flex: snacks from around £5, small plates from £10, fire‑kissed centrepieces from about £30, sweets from £8 – the kind of pricing that lets you drop in for a drink and a couple of plates or settle into a full evening around sharing plates. It aims to do modernized dining with music, festive vibes and a heated energy: but it is also speaking to a broader shift in British hospitality.
Freight Island Newcastle, with its retractable roof, 12 independent kitchens, four bars and year‑round programme of music and screenings, is part of a new wave of multi‑concept spaces that sit somewhere between food court, cultural venue and community hub. Pyr will spearhead the food offer, but it will do so in the company of smaller traders, producers and emerging talent, supported by partnerships with Newcastle College and local training providers.
At its best, that mix promises something more interesting than another polished rooftop bar. For Newcastle – and for a wider UK scene in search of fresh energy – a Michelin‑bred, live‑fire restaurant that still smells of coal dust and sea spray feels like the right kind of experiment.
