The UK’s first ever reality TV show stranded people on a remote island for an entire year January 5, 2026 25 years ago the UK’s first ever fish-out-of-water reality TV show launched. Castaway 2000 stranded dozens of people on a remote Scottish island – its astonishing scope inspired shows like Big Brother, finds Adam Bloodworth. Photos by Simon Roberts It was a sunny autumn day in 1998 when TV producer Chris Kelly arrived at the [...]
Food trends 2026: What Londoners will eat in the new year December 31, 2025 Another challenging year is over for the London hospitality scene, with restaurateurs great and small left licking their wounds amid the ongoing cost of living crisis and a hostile tax environment. So whats on the horizon for 2026. While the macro forces look equally bleak, the top chefs we surveyed expect to see a return [...]
Best of 2025: Mass hallucinations – how I caught an AI reporter December 26, 2025 As we tick off the final days of 2025, we’re rounding up some of our favourite features of the year. Here we present City AM Life&Style Editor Steve Dinneen’s award-nominated tale about the threat AI poses to journalism. The ‘customer’ in the fried chicken shop didn’t touch his meal. Instead, he photographed the kitchen door’s [...]
The history of Christmas dinner, from steamed sheep’s head to traditional turkey December 22, 2025 For me, Christmas is always about indulging, with a slap-up dinner at the heart of things. When most people think Christmas dinner, they think turkey, roast potatoes, Brussel sprouts, parsnips, pigs in blankets, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. For many, turkey is the centrepiece. December’s favourite dish has come a long way from humble origins [...]
Eating Dave’s Hot Chicken Reaper Tenders – the best of 2025 December 19, 2025 As Dave’s Hot Chicken opens its second branch in Croydon, we revisit this feature in which magazine editor Steve Dinneen attempts to break a UK record for eating the world’s hottest chicken tenders… It did not end well. I feel lightheaded, short of breath and the room has started to spin. Intense waves of heat radiate [...]
Where chefs eat: the best meals we had in 2025 December 17, 2025 Despite economic headwinds so strong you could forgive most chefs for simply packing up their kitchens and going home, 2025 has been another vintage year for London restaurants. But which ones have made the biggest impression? We asked some of the best chefs in the land which meal they enjoyed the most. Stevie Parle, chef-founder [...]
Can Spotify and Lloyds and Uber and Deliveroo and Apple and everyone stop wrapping my year, please! December 17, 2025 From Spotify to banking, data 'wraps' are taking over the festive period and exposing all our bad habits. Anna Moloney wants out.
Three amazing winter breaks to escape London this January December 16, 2025 Three winter breaks to book to escape dreary January I will be clear from the get-go. I hate the cold. Anything below 20 degrees and I start to shut down. How I’ve lasted 36 years in the UK is a miracle, but at least London has its own microclimate thanks to all those skyscrapers. Out [...]
The Old Course Hotel is bringing a modern twist to a classic December 8, 2025 St Andrews is known for three things: being the third oldest university in the English-speaking world; sparking the love affair between Prince William and Kate; and being the home of golf. If you’re thinking of checking it out, the famous The Old Course Hotel has teamed up with some impressive experts to create a variety [...]
Da Terra’s Rafael Cagali is breaking down borders December 5, 2025 This piece is published in City AM The Magazine, Winter edition, distributed at major Tube stations and available to pick up from The Royal Exchange Brazil, Bethnal Green, Brighton: Rafael Cagali is cooking from his roots, writes Carys Sharkey What little I know about Brazilian food stems from two places. Hungover lunches in Southwark at small cafes [...]