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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‘The prawns tasted of my parents getting divorced’ – Why we won’t be missing Trader Vic’s

December 8, 2022

Trader Vic’s, the Polynesian restaurant that’s occupied the basement of the Park Lane Hotel since 1963, is being evicted at the end of the year. Our restaurant critic Steve Dinneen, who ate there in 2013, certainly won’t be pouring out a pina colada into a coconut to bid it farewell. Here’s what he had to [...]
London’s best independent restaurants, bars and cafes, chosen by some of the city’s top creative minds

December 6, 2022

In London it’s often the biggest venues with the most expensive PR operations that catch the headlines, but it’s the small, independent bars and restaurants that make the fabric of the city. The Amex Shop Small initiative has launched The Little Blue Book of Sharing”, an initiative that profiles British creatives to find out the [...]
Othello at the National Theatre is a savage take on race and masculinity

December 4, 2022

It seems absurd that the first black man to play Othello at the National Theatre was David Harewood, as recently as 1997. A young Clint Dyer, visiting the National in the 1980s, was horrified by the theatre’s – and every other theatre’s – continuing use of blackface, even defacing a photograph of Laurence Olivier playing [...]
Top boozy advent calendars to count in Christmas

December 1, 2022

Christmas is coming! Count down the days with one of these drinks-based advent calendars, putting a grownup spin on a festive childhood tradition. WHISKY EXCHANGE SPIRITS ADVENT CALENDAR The Whisky Exchange has assembled a veritable smorgasbord of spirits for the holiday season. Each day will bring a new surprise, with this diverse collection consisting of [...]
What to do in London for Christmas, from carols to food and drink

December 1, 2022

Whether you’re after carols in a cathedral or a knees-up in a brewery, we have the perfect Christmas outing for you. CHRISTMAS CAROLS AT ST PAUL’S Short of getting a ride in Santa’s sleigh, there can be little more festive than singing Christmas carols in the stunning surrounds of St Paul’s Cathedral. This year there [...]
Atelier Wren on how to design an ‘it’ restaurant

November 29, 2022

Saltie Girl in Mayfair is London’s newest “it” restaurant, already frequented by celebs from Salma Hayek to Robert Pattinson. We caught up with Jake Raslan and Lorenzo Buscaroli, the interior design duo behind Atelier Wren, the studio that brought the space to life. What was your vision for Saltie Girl? JAKE RASLAN: Saltie Girl is [...]
Of dice and men: How Ian Livingstone conquered the nerd universe

November 11, 2022

In a leafy enclave of West London, Ian Livingstone is balanced precariously upon a chair in his study, grasping for a top-shelf box filled with incredibly rare figurines. The legs of the chair creak in protest, and there is a moment when I fear I may be responsible for the untimely death of the man [...]
A Dead Body in Taos is a smart sci-fi that swings and misses

November 4, 2022

A Dead Body in Taos starts promisingly. A young English woman is called to New Mexico following the sudden death of her mother. Daughter Sam’s initial shock at her mother’s apparent suicide grows exponentially when a tech company claims to have created a digital version of Kath, with her last wishes being to live on [...]
Lisboeta by Nuno Mendes is as good as you’d hope from the star chef

November 4, 2022

Nuno Mendes knows what he’s doing. He worked for elBulli when it was the hottest kitchen in the world, combining art and science to change the way we think about modern cooking. He opened a gastro-pub in Hoxton just when it was dawning on regular joes like you and I that pub food could be [...]
Immerse yourself in Scorn’s thrilling hellscape this Halloween

October 28, 2022

Scorn is the kind of game that makes you wonder what the whole deal is with humans. It’s designed in every way to be as unnerving, unpleasant and uncomfortable as possible, and yet it’s a compelling, even thrilling seven hours of your life. Designed by Serbian studio Ebb Software, it’s a love letter to Alien [...]

Reform UK tax cut pledge raises doubts

The season finale economy: Why we undervalue the Premier League

Jinkx Monsoon’s Judy Garland musical proves drag is serious art

By: Steve Dinneen

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