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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Could magic mushrooms fix your brain? We try Europe’s first legal psychedelic therapy retreat

July 24, 2019

Ten of us sit in a semicircle around a makeshift altar. In front of us lies a small statue of Buddha, various rocks and crystals, some pine cones, a carved mushroom, a small chemists’ weighing scale, and a wooden bowl filled with psychedelic ‘truffles’. We’re in a lodge on the outskirts of Amsterdam overlooking woodland [...]
Da Terra at Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel review: Three’s the dream for this storied dining room

July 23, 2019

Bethnal Green’s Town Hall Hotel has been home to two of my favourite restaurants. When I moved to London in 2010, Nuno Mendes had just opened Viajante, his Portuguese-minded take on world cuisine. It was his first proper restaurant – and his first Michelin star – after running lauded supper clubs and gastro pubs. It was [...]
Peter Gynt at the Olivier is a toe-curling, overlong adaptation of Ibsen’s mad epic

July 11, 2019

Before the curtain rose for this reimagining of Ibsen’s allegorical play Peer Gynt, audience members were surreptitiously snapping pictures of the set, presumably to impress their Instagram followers. “I’m at the theatre! #culture”. How appropriate for a play (originally a poem but adapted soon after) that asks if a life can be fulfilled simply by winning the [...]
The Damned at Barbican review: More of the same good stuff from Ivo Van Hove

June 28, 2019

The Damned continues Dutch theatre director Ivo van Hove’s obsession with adaptations, with his oeuvre now including four Bergman screenplays, versions of Oscar-winning films Network and All About Eve, and now four works from Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti. And while this French-language play occasionally veers close to a van Hove ‘greatest hits’ compilation, it’s excellently performed by [...]
The Hunt at the Almeida review: A powerful but uncomfortable film adaptation

June 28, 2019

The Hunt, a tale of a man’s world crumbling around him in the wake of false accusations of paedophilia, is so utterly harrowing it barely qualifies as entertainment. It’s two hours of nauseating tension, each escalation arriving like a physical blow. It’s a nightmare given solid form, and its transition from screen to stage only amplifies the [...]
Bob Bob Ricard City review: This bonkers restaurant is the Square Mile’s new best place to eat

June 6, 2019

There are many laudable things about Soho’s Bob Bob Ricard: the fancy Titanic-meets-Orient-Express interiors, the no-nonsense Franco-Anglo-Russian menu that turns a fish pie or a chicken kiev into a minor culinary event. But the thing everybody remembers is the “Press for Champagne” button on every table, a gimmick that perfectly encapsulates the personality of the [...]
We’re now in the new lunar year – the Year of the Pig – so get out there and eat dim sum in some of London’s finest restaurants

February 5, 2019

1. Din Tai Fung Henrietta St, WC2E 8PT If you’re a dumpling fan, you’ve probably heard of Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain that’s currently taking Covent Garden by storm. It’s known for its magical xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings). The new British restaurant seats 250 but still expect a queue during busy times. [...]
Good Grief, Charlie Brown! at Somerset House review: A fantasyland for Peanuts fans

October 26, 2018

Until March 2019 If you didn’t grow up reading Charles M Schulz’ cartoon strips, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Isn’t it just a cartoon strip about an anthropomorphised dog designed to sell pencil cases? But despite the Schulz estate’s willingness to cash in on the Snoopy IP, Peanuts is something entirely [...]
The Wild Duck at the Almeida: Ibsen’s classic play has been carved up for this deconstructivist test of endurance

October 26, 2018

Until 1 December There have been a spate of productions recently that take a classic play, lift up the hood, and have a real rummage around with the nuts and bolts. There was othellomacbeth at the Lyric, which spliced together the titular plays, casting the female victims of the former as the witches in the [...]
Edward Burne-Jones at the Tate Britain review: A load of daft paintings but some first-class curation

October 26, 2018

Until Feb 2019 It’s easy to be sniffy about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a bunch of bohemian Victorians obsessed with mythology and romanticism, who spent their days painting big, silly pictures of King Arthur and sleeping with each other’s wives. They claim their highly decorative works harked back to the days before art became formalist and [...]

Burnham’s focused on spending but at least Streeting’s thinking about growth

England’s secret weapon against World Cup heat? British company’s £26 product

Old Pulteney releases 50-year-old whisky for 200th anniversary

By: Steve Dinneen

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