The Long Weekend: There’s more to Geneva than conference centres, including the La Réserve November 13, 2017 Geneva may be a business capital from Monday to Friday, but there's something for the weekend here too. The weekend: Witness the scrum for hand-luggage space on Friday night flights from Geneva to London City Airport and you’d be forgiven for thinking the city simply kicked its residents out when the international organisations and private [...]
Antonio Carluccio dies: Italian chef and restaurateur passes away aged 80 November 8, 2017 Celebrity chef Antonio Carluccio, the founder of the Carluccio’s restaurant chain, has died at the age of 80, his agent has said. Carluccio founded his eponymous restaurant as an Italian food shop and wholesaler in 1991, before opening the first Carluccio’s Caffe in central London 1999. Carluccio sold his shares in the company to, among [...]
TfL says major Tube upgrades on Northern Line and Jubilee Line cancelled because of unexpected dip in passenger numbers November 8, 2017 Upgrades planned for the Jubilee Line and Northern Line have gone off track due to an unexpected dip in passenger numbers on the Tube, Transport for London (TfL) said today. A fall of around two per cent in Tube numbers has had a significant impact on TfL's five-year business plan, as the Tube is the [...]
This is what it’s like to be a young chef in London, from Michelin trainees to pop-up proteges November 2, 2017 Depending on who you speak to, young chefs are either the rock stars of the 21st century, or the last vestige of a Victorian-style workforce, toiling away in cramped conditions under tyrannical bosses for pay that makes nurses look like millionaires. What’s beyond question is that London is one of the most exciting culinary cities [...]
Mark Hix on the pitfalls of modern technology, from unfortunate autocorrect errors to drug deals gone wrong November 1, 2017 When I first moved to London 30-odd years ago – yes, that long! – communication was limited to land lines, phone boxes and fax. As crude as that sounds now, it was a straightforward, near fool-proof way of getting in touch with people, bar the odd food order being accidentally left on the voicemail of [...]
Restaurant sector faces risk of thousands of insolvencies as Brexit bites October 30, 2017 A fifth of Britain’s restaurants are showing signs they could go bust, according to research released today. Almost 15,000 eateries are facing a real insolvency threat as rising staff costs and the fall out of Brexit put a strain on the sector. Over half of all food is imported, with three-quarters coming from the EU. [...]
Hiver beers founder Hannah Rhodes is turning bees to money October 23, 2017 Even the most hardened City hack might consider turning down the offer of a drink at 11am. But for you, City A.M. readers, this reporter went the extra mile. The Bermondsey Beer Mile, that is. I’m here to meet Hannah Rhodes, founder of Hiver beers. Following a decade in the drinks industry, including a spell [...]
Holiday Homes in Porto, Portugal: We scout out the bargains October 20, 2017 The snaking queues of tourists outside Porto’s 19th century Livraria Lello bookstore are not people seeking a good read. They’re tourists wanting to glimpse the second floor café where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone while raising her daughter and teaching English in the City. Potter fans believe the shop’s spiral art [...]
Just Eat’s Hungryhouse takeover is nearly good to go as competition watchdog gives provisional clearance October 12, 2017 The competition watchdog has provisionally paved the way for Just Eat to gobble up Hungryhouse, saying the merger does not raise concerns. Shares in Just Eat rose nearly five per cent in morning trading as investors chewed over the good news. Just Eat paid £200m for Hungryhouse, which it bought from Delivery Hero, back in [...]
The London underground: How the underground music zines of the 1960s helped to define the counterculture | City A.M. October 4, 2017 Although I grew up in London with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Joan Bakewell, the day I discovered the underground press, to use the vernacular of the day, “blew my mind”. Since 1975, I’ve collected printed materials associated with the British underground press, an anarchic phenomenon that provides a fascinating alternative history of the [...]