No Glasto? No problemo! Here are the top things to do in London June 25, 2025 With thousands of Londoners trading the concrete jungle for the fields of Glastonbury, you could be forgiven for thinking the world’s greatest music festival is the only thing in the calendar this weekend. But London continues to knock it out of the park, and with the temperatures rising to a positively Mediterranean 31 degrees, here [...]
Eat, drink, sleep, repeat: Foodie delights in Dubai June 25, 2025 Martin Williams is one of the judges for our first Toast the City awards. Here he tells us about his recent trip to the gastronomic paradise of ever-sunny Dubai. The Serpentine Summer Party never disappoints. After a wonderful lunch at Petrus, I found myself enjoying Mujen Sochu Cocktails, created by the bar legend Tato Giovannoni, who [...]
London food scene says farewell to Richard Vines at Quaglino’s June 18, 2025 On Tuesday evening the great and good of the London restaurant world gathered at Quaglino’s to celebrate the life of food writer Richard Vines, who died earlier this year. Vines was the restaurant critic for Bloomberg for 26 years until his retirement in 2021. Known for his natty sense of style – paisley shirts and [...]
Best vineyards to visit this English Wine Week June 17, 2025 England is bursting at the seams with bucolically beautiful places to visit. With over 1,000 vineyards up and down the country it would be such a waste not to spend at least a few weekends wandering through them and trying exciting wines – especially with English Wine Week upon us! Last weekend I drove an [...]
Terra at Eataly is an Italian wine lover’s dream June 13, 2025 We are celebrating the best of the Square Mile this October with The Toast Awards! Voting is open now so make your voice heard by submitting your favourite City of London spots on the website. In the run up, we’re honouring some of our favourite City hotspots For the Italian wine lover there is no [...]
Exclusive: Richard Caring hits suppliers with mandatory ‘discount’ amid £1bn sale talks June 12, 2025 The Richard Caring restaurant empire, which includes the Ivy Collection and Caprice Holdings, has demanded its suppliers take a 2.5 per cent “discount”, blaming “increased tax burden and cost of employment, cost of indirect products [and] services and also direct cost of food and beverage.” In a letter dated 3 June, signed by Richard Caring’s [...]
Fathers Day gifts for wine loving dads June 9, 2025 In general, I am against the gendering of beverages. These days it seems a little embarrassing to pigeon-hole prosecco for hen dos and cognac for city boys. Jon Bon Jovi has a rosé, Hampton Water and the World Whiskies Awards 2025 honoured Stephanie Macleod as Master Blender of the Year. Let us be clear: everyone [...]
Fallow founder James Robson: Labour is killing hospitality June 5, 2025 James Robson is one of the most successful restaurateurs in London, setting up the hugely successful Fallow, Roe and Fowl restaurants with his business partners Will Murray and Jack Croft. In less than two years, Fallow went from a promising pop-up to a vast operation employing 300 people and serving up to 1,000 covers a [...]
Martin Williams: Here are my favourite places to Toast the City June 4, 2025 This month, you can let your thoughts be heard as we open the nominations for ‘Toast the City’, City AM’s inaugural hospitality awards celebrating the best of the Square Mile! For inspiration, debate and disagreement – best made over a pint, or a glass of burgundy, as per your preference – here are a few [...]
Why Greek wine is having its moment in the sun June 3, 2025 Mayfair’s flamboyant restaurant Bacchanalia is taking part in the Coravin World Wine Tour 2025, with an exclusive wine list of rare and iconic bottles never usually available by the glass. Here, over a copper dish of silky truffle tagliatelle, I was reminded just how brilliant Greece’s Xinomavro (pronounced Zee-no-mav-ro) can be. I sipped at a [...]