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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Wanna feel old? Your old Blackberry is now the subject of a nostalgic movie

August 4, 2023

“Want to feel old…?” has become a tired meme – but seriously, want to feel old? Blackberry, the world’s first smartphone and once the biggest company in Canada, is now such a nostalgic legacy product that it’s the subject of a movie being released later this year. In a former life as a tech reporter [...]
The X-Phile: What does the Twitter transformation say about Elon Musk?

August 2, 2023

Where to even begin? Over the last week Elon Musk changed the name of his $44bn toy from Twitter to, simply, “X”. In doing so he unleashed yet another torrent of confusion and indignation, something the eccentric billionaire must surely be somehow feeding upon, vampire-like, such is the frequency with which he invites it. But [...]
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 [...]

Heatwave fans demand for aircon stocks

Novak Djokovic joins investment firm with stake in Mexico’s Azteca Stadium

House of the Dragon’s Abubakar Salim dreams of Kenyan kebabs for his last supper

By: Steve Dinneen

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