By: Steve Dinneen

Life&Style Editor I'm the editor of City A.M. The Magazine, and editor of the daily newspaper's Life&Style section. We cover food, wine, going out, culture, technology and travel. I'm also the head judge of our Toast the City awards that celebrates hospitality in the Square Mile. Find me on X @steve_dinneen

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Grind One espresso pod machine review: Stylish and simple

August 2, 2023

As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time making espresso – and reading about making espresso and buying espresso-related paraphernalia – I long ago grew out of the Nespresso pod machine that used to sit on my desk. There’s something meditative about the process of making espresso: weighing out exactly 18 grams of beans, [...]
World Series of Poker: Lessons from taking on pro player Charlie Carrel

August 1, 2023

There was a moment when I knew – on both a mathematical and instinctual level – that I had the better of Charlie Carrel, one of the best poker players of all time with career winnings of almost $10m. But then we turned over the cards… I was playing at the World Series of Poker [...]
Taku Mayfair review: Strict omakase restaurant is a show-stopper

July 26, 2023

Some restaurants hook and cook you before you even reach your seat. At Walthamstow’s SlowBurn you walk through a working jeans factory, passing industrial washing machines and stacks of denim en route to your table. Sessions Arts Club has you enter its grand former courthouse through what looks like the stone-hewn corridor of a castle, asking [...]
Why now is the best time to visit wild, untamed Sri Lanka

July 18, 2023

It has been a tough few years for Sri Lanka but Steve Dinneen finds a country that’s ready to welcome tourists The last few years have been devastating for tourism-reliant countries across the world, but few have had it quite as bad as Sri Lanka. Visitor numbers fell to virtually zero following the 2019 Easter [...]
Beneatha’s Place at the Young Vic, review: Canny direction, excellent acting

July 13, 2023

Kwame Kwei-Armah’s play (which he also directs) Beneatha’s Place is a more straightforward proposition than its circuitous history might suggest. It’s the first UK staging of his 2013 work, which premiered in Baltimore and acts as an unofficial sequel to Lorraine Hansberry’s seminal 1959 play about the African American experience. You don’t really need to [...]
Nessa is proof the death of Soho has been greatly exaggerated

July 12, 2023

Much has been made of the creeping corporatisation of Soho, with independent bars and restaurants attempting – and often failing – to hold back the tide of chains hoping to capitalise on London’s most debauched district. Nessa, a new modern British bistro headed up by highly-rated chef Tom Cenci, shows there’s still a place for [...]
SlowBurn review: Restaurant in a Walthamstow jeans factory is an unexpected joy

July 5, 2023

Nothing says gentrification quite like a restaurant that pops up three times a week in a jeans factory in a commercial estate at the bleak end of Walthamstow. Blackhorse Road is one of those enclaves of London that town planners forgot about until a few years ago, during which time it has gone from a [...]
Andaz Mayakoba is a near-perfect beach resort on the Mexican coast

July 3, 2023

Playa del Carmen lies halfway between Cancun and Tulum, both geographically and spiritually. It’s not quite the tourist hellscape of the former, a haven for spring breakers and the kind of traveller who wears sports socks with sandals, but neither does it have the bohemian charm of the latter, which has positioned itself as the [...]
The best espresso machines between £500 and £1000

June 28, 2023

Flat whites have been unfairly maligned as the reason millennials can’t afford to buy houses. So why not use this boomer nonsense as an excuse to buy a new home espresso machine, forgoing that daily outlay in favour of splurging a single lump sum? Upgrading from a basic automatic coffee machine – press button, out [...]
Dear Earth at the Hayward review: Vital and impressive

June 26, 2023

Group exhibitions are a tricky thing to get right but the Hayward Gallery shows how it should be done with the excellent exhibition Dear Earth. It brings together 15 artists, all working in different mediums, addressing the issue of climate change. As you walk in you’re greeted by Otobong Nkanga’s giant tree, its roots exposed, [...]

City of London Nocturne return to see fan zone bonanza

City of London Nocturne return to see fan zone bonanza

£3m Fenomeno Roadster is most powerful open Lamborghini ever

By: Steve Dinneen

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