Inside the French festival serving incredible wine in a beautiful setting November 4, 2025 Typing this up on Eurostar, I am having to completely rethink what I had planned to include in this week’s column. Rather than writing from my London home and grimacing at the grey outdoors, I had been invited by Alex Watson, part of the Domaine Watson family and co-founder of Renais gin, to escape the [...]
The Capitalist: City AM, sexing up the Budget since 2005 October 30, 2025 INSIDE OUR INAUGURAL SQUARE MILE AWARDSThe Square Mile gathered in force last week to celebrate… the Square Mile. It was our inaugural Toast the City Awards, and gongs were handed out to the City’s best restaurant, bar, green space, rooftop and much more. However, Piccolo Bar, the winners of the best sandwich accolade, weren’t to [...]
The Line of Beauty at the Almeida review: Horny and exceedingly fabulous October 30, 2025 The Line of Beauty at the Almeida review and star rating: ★★★★ Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty is considered alongside The Normal Heart and Angels in America to be one of the seminal queer texts confronting the AIDS pandemic. It won the Man Booker Prize in 2004 but is more interested in queer hedonism [...]
Exclusive: The Old Vic reveals first new performance space in 207 years October 30, 2025 The Old Vic’s co-CEO Laura Stevenson talks to City AM about the theatre’s new ‘Backstage’ development, which includes a new 100-seater theatre, and cafe and restaurant Photo of Laura by Jonny Ruff In The Old Vic theatre’s new 100-seater performance space, modern lighting rigs are fitted inches from wooden ceiling rafters dating back to the [...]
Discovering the real China, with amazing food, incredible scenery and authentic culture October 24, 2025 From City AM The magazine, Autumn edition, with photos by Nicolas Quiniou I love China. There, I said it. Nowhere else I have visited has caused such a ruckus among my friends and family. My departure was marked by a stream of messages warning me to ‘be careful’ and ‘make sure you behave’. At first, [...]
New watches: Our favourite colourful chronos to beat the winter blues October 23, 2025 From London Time, three colourful chronograph watches to beat the winter blues BELL & ROSS BR-X3 NIGHT VISION Looking like something Neo would wear in The Matrix, Paris’s military watchmaker has instead been inspired by head-up displays (HUD) from the cockpits of the Rafale fighter jets, whose pilots they supply. A stealthy case in ‘LUM-CAMO’ [...]
From Hublot to Bulgari, why watch collabs are so hot right now October 23, 2025 Watch collabs are so hot right now, fit for a Bond Street gallery as well as boutique Unless you count Andy Warhol’s love of his stopped Cartier, the ‘watch as canvas’ trend was arguably coined by ‘watch as fast fashion’ brand Swatch. Back in the 1980s, the plastic-fantastic pioneer got its palette and oils out [...]
St Paul’s on bringing art into the Cathedral: ‘It was Marmite. Some worshippers said they’d leave’ October 22, 2025 This evening earmarks the inaugural Toast the City awards – the first ever ceremony celebrating Square Mile culture – and as City AM staffers bunk off work to smarten up, the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral is bestowing us with his good wishes. The Cathedral has been nominated in our Best Coffee and Best Cultural [...]
Toast the City finalists: Who will win Best Members Experience? October 22, 2025 The Toast the City Awards are here to celebrate the very best in hospitality of placemaking in the Square Mile. On the eve of the big night, we are highlighting each of the 138 finalists who have beaten off competition from more than 2,000 entrants. Next up is the Best Members Experience category. To find [...]
Toast the City: What’s the Best Green Space in the Square Mile? October 22, 2025 The Toast the City Awards are here to celebrate the very best in hospitality of placemaking in the Square Mile. On the eve of the big night, we are highlighting each of the 138 finalists who have beaten off competition from more than 2,000 entrants. Home to dozens of church gardens, pocket squares and public [...]