The British vineyards that welcome families for fun activities beyond the wine October 16, 2025 Wine isn’t thought of as something for the whole family, but these British vineyard are inviting the whole brood As much as I adore spending time with my son, I take umbrage that I am expected to relegate myself to child-focused establishments over the holidays. No shade thrown at Pizza Express, those dough balls have [...]
Inside amazing new London restaurant in an old bank near Oxford Street October 16, 2025 New London restaurant Aki has opened in a quiet enclave a few minutes’ walk from Oxford Street A handsome, high-ceilinged former bank with all its beautiful ceiling cornicing and latticework from its 1825 opening has been refashioned as a Japanese restaurant. New London restaurant Aki is behind an unassuming door opposite The Phoenix pub a [...]
The Whisky Exchange’s top creative cask bottlings October 16, 2025 City AM has teamed up with the Whisky Exchange to showcase some of the company’s most creative and innovative spirits. This month, it’s the turn of the creative cask bottlings, whiskies and rums bottled in unique and interesting casks that showcase the best of the spirit and innovation in the industry. As part of the [...]
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s colour evolution October 16, 2025 Whisky Business: City AM’s monthly look at the world of whisky. Over the past couple of decades, single malts have become synonymous with the Scotch whisky category. While blended Scotch, which uses a blend of different whiskies from various distilleries, still accounts for around 90 per cent of industry volume, single malt whisky, matured and distilled [...]
After the Hunt: Luca Guadagnino’s MeToo drama misfires October 15, 2025 Luca Guadagnino’s films tackle the big questions: “What if tennis players were sexy?” “What if Suspiria was boring?” “What if a man had sex with fruit?” His latest, After the Hunt, asks an altogether more controversial question: “What if we shouldn’t believe women?” This post-post-MeToo parable has the dubious honour of capturing the cultural crossroads [...]
Anemone review: Daniel Day-Lewis returns in his son’s debut film October 15, 2025 After starring in some of the most iconic movies of the last 40 years – Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood, The Age of Innocence – Daniel Day-Lewis retired after 2017’s Phantom Thread. Perhaps the most famous of the method actors, his commitment to the bit – three years in the gym for [...]
No Other Choice review: Is Park Chan-wook satire a new Parasite? October 15, 2025 You could make a case for Park Chan-wook having the most absurdly varied CV of any living director. Coming to international attention in 2003 with cult classic revenge movie Oldboy, his oeuvre includes steamy psychological thriller Stoker, disturbing erotica The Handmaiden and romantic neo-noir Decision to Leave. Next up is No Other Choice, a sprawling, [...]
Cicoria, Angela Hartnett restaurant review: Jamie Oliver vibes October 15, 2025 Cicoria, Angela Hartnett restaurant review: great cocktails and panoramas, but the food and vibe feel more functional than fancy I felt an arm on my shoulder at Wilderness festival this past summer, and it was Angela Hartnett. The Michelin-starred chef was doing a royal walkabout after her ‘banquet feast’, a gout-inducing three-hour scoff-fest so indulgent [...]
Is This Thing On? at London Film Festival: Bradley Cooper’s hilarious homage to John Bishop October 14, 2025 Is This Thing On? starring Bradley Cooper, review and star rating from the London Film Festival: ★★★★ It is the strangest-sounding premise of any of the films premiering at the London Film Festival 2025: in Is This Thing On?, Bradley Cooper directs a biopic inspired by the life of Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop. It is [...]
The authentic side of Amsterdam, with amazing restaurants, hipster bars and outdoor swimming October 14, 2025 In 2008, I was a 23-year-old uni student on an Erasmus programme in Amsterdam. I know what you’re thinking and yes, I may have held a few herbal cigarettes, stumbled around the red light district and generally been that Brit abroad. My recollections of those 12 months are somewhat fuzzy. What I have never forgotten, [...]