Toast the City Awards 2026 finalists announced – vote now! July 16, 2026 It’s here: the Toast the City Finalists have been announced, with bars, restaurants, coffee shops, green spaces and more from across the City being celebrated in the Square Mile’s biggest and best awards. Now is your chance to vote for your favourite city spots – just visit our Toast the City website and cast your [...]
Why lighter, chilled Claret is causing a stir July 16, 2026 Bet on Claret – but the Brit fave is changing Wine has a habit of making things more complicated than they need to be. The terminology, the labelling, the annoying communicators warbling on about “mouthfeel” and describing perfectly enjoyable bottles as tasting of “tar”, “tennis balls” and that Sauvignon Blanc classic “cat’s pee”. (Sorry about [...]
Jamie’s Italian is awful but don’t worry, there are some great new Mediterranean restaurants too July 15, 2026 This week I talk about two Italians, one Greek, a talented Cypriot and an irritating Englishman. Prepare to read about two restaurants you should visit (Bancone and Zylia) and one you should reserve for your worst enemies (Jamie’s Italian)… ZYLIA Covent Garden is a part of London that you only go to for a specific [...]
Land Rover Defender OCTA: Can an Off-Road Super SUV Really Conquer the City? July 15, 2026 | Sponsored With 635PS, Dakar-inspired engineering and a £147,000 price tag, the Defender OCTA is built for extremes – but does any of that make sense on urban streets? What is the Land Rover Defender OCTA and why is it gaining so much traction? Land Rover has a reputation for totally blinging out some of its models [...]
I saved hundreds watching a tribute band over the real thing July 15, 2026 Tired of spending hundreds on stadium gigs, Damien Gabet set off on a long, dark journey to Cheltenham to watch a System Of A Down tribute band. It might have been better than the real thing We can all recall a piece of music that, on first listening, irreversibly rewired our minds. I can vividly [...]
Everything’s going to sh*t. Here are 25 of the best dystopian novels July 15, 2026 The genre has roared back onto bookshelves and best-seller lists. Harry Owen asks why we keep returning to this bleakest of genres – and recommends some top dystopian fiction Dystopian fiction is once again lining the bookshelves of Waterstones. And is it any wonder? All good dystopia really hinges on its ‘plausibility’, the writer concocting [...]
50 years of hairdos: Meet the Dedicated Barber of Fleet Street July 15, 2026 Fleet Street barber shop Leonard & Michael is celebrating its 50th anniversary. We get a chop at one of the City’s oldest hairdressers, which has been nominated for Retailer of the Year at this October’s Toast the City Awards He’s the most dedicated hairdresser of Fleet Street, the man behind the barber shop that has [...]
Stunning Morgan Midsummer Coupe by Pininfarina revealed July 14, 2026 Morgan has unveiled a dramatic limited-production coupe, developed in collaboration with legendary Italian design house Pininafarina. The new Morgan Midsummer Coupe follows the roofless Midsummer roadster, launched in summer 2024. Just 50 examples of the convertible were made, but the fixed-roof Midsummer will be even rarer. Morgan plans to coachbuild just nine cars for selected [...]
Humble Grape is up for two Toast the City Awards: Here’s why July 14, 2026 We have launched the Toast the City awards 2026 and throughout the year we’ll be speaking to some of our amazing Finalists – today it’s Enya Buchenau, marketing manager at Humble Grape and Vivat Bacchus. To vote for your favourite Square Mile spots for the 2026 awards, from bars and restaurants to galleries and green [...]
Lamborghini Urus SE Performante is an even more super SUV July 14, 2026 Lamborghini has ramped up the power and aggression for its Urus SE SUV, with the launch of a new Performante version. Released 40 years after the original ‘Rambo Lambo’ LM002, the new Urus SE Performante is claimed to be the fastest SUV in the world. Like other Lamborghinis that have received the Performante treatment, the [...]