Why Georgia’s capital Tbilisi is the most fascinating city in Europe October 7, 2024 Towering over the Georgian capital of Tbilisi is Mtatsminda Park, a Soviet-era fairground and gardens set atop a craggy hill. Accessed by a funicular railway, you will find a host of terrifying, creaky old amusement rides, including the 65-metre-high Giant Wheel, which seems to bow outwards over the edge of a sheer cliff. Dotted around [...]
What does it take to be the best… at Karaoke? October 7, 2024 Barging past a swarm of small children jostling upwards from the seafront, I arrive at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre. It is, with the best will in the world, an ugly building, like a bingo hall had sex with a secondary school. Inside is a different story. Its intestines are a marbled maze of tiles and [...]
Seedlip revolutionised alcohol free drinking. Now its founder has a new product: We tried it first October 6, 2024 Ben Branson birthed the alcohol free spirits scene when he launched Seedlip nearly ten years ago. Five years after selling his majority share, he’s ready to change the face of drinking. Again. He talks to Adam Bloodworth Through the launch of Seedlip, Ben Branson established a reputation as the founding father of the alcohol free [...]
In defence of wasting time October 3, 2024 Pleasure-focused pastimes such as reading fiction are being sacrificed for productivity-boosting pursuits. Anna Moloney, in repose, defends idleness.
Does Life Coaching work? We booked a session to find out October 3, 2024 Would you see a life coach? This is the question I have been asking anyone who would listen for the last month. And what would you ask them? About your career? Your health? Your love life? Well guess what: I’ve got a date with Michael Serwa, the UK’s highest paid life coach! No one could [...]
No more Noma: What’s next for Copenhagen’s food scene October 3, 2024 For decades, Noma has been one of the most coveted restaurants on the planet. It birthed ‘new Nordic’ cuisine in 2003 and stamped the small Danish capital on the gastronomic map, winning the world’s best restaurant award multiple times and holding Michelin stars since 2008. Its stratospheric success was led by head chef and co-founder [...]
Cush Jumbo: On playing Hamlet and choosing which cake to eat October 3, 2024 There are two types of people: those who already know about Cush Jumbo, one of the finest British actors of her generation, and those who are soon to find out. The star of wildly successful TV shows including The Good Wife, Criminal Record and Deadwater Fell, Jumbo cemented her A-List credentials when she became the [...]
The eternal jobstopper? The future of face tattoos October 3, 2024 Jamie McPhee’s first face tattoo was a little star under his eye. He just fancied it. After the star under his left eye, he got a star under his right eye – the asymmetry was bugging him. Before you could say, “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Jamie?” he had a skull and crossbones [...]
‘I didn’t give a f**k what Ofcom thought’ – in conversation with Grace Campbell and Hannah Crosbie October 1, 2024 Wine writer Hannah Crosbie interviews her friend and comedian Grace Campbell in Soho’s Bar Crispin about the changing face of social media, the pull of TV and getting high in Edinburgh. Hannah Crosbie: So the last time we saw each other was that hilarious night at the Edinburgh Fringe. We went to Noodles & Dumplings [...]
When viral fame fades: From Binley Mega Chippy to the Spudman October 1, 2024 In March 2022, I visited fish and chip takeaway Binley Mega Chippy in my hometown of Coventry 10 minutes after it had opened for dinner, joining a growing queue of people snaking out across a tarmac car park on the side of a busy A road. A line of cars waiting for a parking spot [...]