Toast the City Finalists: El Vino Fleet Street Toast the City Discover El Vino Fleet Street, a historic City wine bar serving Spanish tapas, fine bottles and old London charm—visit this Toast the City finalist.
‘Bankers are people too’: Inside tongue-in-cheek bar The Pregnant Man Life&Style The Pregnant Man is celebrating a decade this January. But there may well be celebrations before their birthday as they are one of the finalists for the Best Bar gong at our Toast the City Awards. As a judge, I find it impressive and heartening to find so many original, diverse places to grab a [...]
Dave’s Wine Bar: Why I think it’s a Toast the City star Toast the City Dave’s Wine Bar is one of our Toast the City finalists. Libby Brodie visits to find out what makes it such a special drinking den Dave’s Wine Bar is tucked up St James Passage, a handily central space for a glass of great wine in the City. Named for David Howden, the CEO of Howden [...]
Open House Festival: The best guided walks in the Square Mile September 8, 2026 As we celebrate the Square Mile with our Toast the City Awards 2026, here are some amazing City-based Open House Festival tours, including close looks at some of our nominees. Money, money, money What is the City of London most famous for? Money, of course. This Open House tour, of the Square Mile’s financial past [...]
Barts North Wing would be a worthy Toast Award winner August 27, 2026 Barts North Wing houses the restored Hogarth Stair and Great Hall, a free City landmark up for Toast the City Awards. The public voting for the Toast the City Awards is over but the judges have yet to cast their votes for their favourite bars, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, cultural venues and more. As the [...]
These are the best restaurants in the City of London August 11, 2026 Bank is almost unrecognisable from when I began my career here with Gaucho in 2004. Fast forward to today and I am the CEO of the Evolv Collection, overseeing 33 venues, nine of which are in the Square Mile. It’s fair to say I love running restaurants in the heart of London. So when it [...]
Rosslyn Coffee boss James Hennebry tells us the secret to great coffee August 10, 2026 We’re into the final round of voting for the 2026 Toast the City Awards. We’ve been catching up with some of our finalists; today we spoke to Rosslyn Coffee co-founder James Hennebry, who has two of his City locations, Ludgate Circus and London Wall, nominated in the Best Coffee category. To vote for your favourite [...]
Martin Williams: My top picks for the Toast the City Awards 2026 July 29, 2026 The Toast the City Awards 2026, for which I am honoured to be a judge, is down to its final stage – the public vote! Now in its second year, the awards give you the chance to celebrate the most amazing places in the Square Mile (and slightly beyond). So to help inspire you to [...]
Why the Bank of England museum is a one-of-a-kind July 28, 2026 Where else in the country can you walk into a museum and without any guard present, lift a gold bar worth £1.2 million? Welcome to the Bank of England museum, one of the City’s hidden gems. Apart from the gold bar, a reminder of the 400,000 beneath you, the museum is a real treasure house, [...]
Will Ibai take home a Toast the City Award? July 21, 2026 The Finalists have been announced for our second annual Toast the City Awards and we’re thrilled to highlight some of the runners and riders over the coming weeks. Today we’re celebrating the amazing steak restaurant Ibai, which is one of 12 Finalists in the Best Restaurant category. Here’s what our food critic – and Toast [...]