Bancone is a pasta restaurant – just don’t call it Italian Life&Style A new restaurant below the imposing walls of the Bank of England is serving pasta – just don’t call this Italian food. I’m told the rare breed beef and marrowbone pasta is a British dish. Is a restaurant Italian because they serve pasta? As any City worker will know, Bancone’s silken threads are kneaded in the [...]
Vino by the waves: The best British seaside hotels for wine Life&Style English summertime means visits to the seaside, ideally with a glass of wine in hand. Having toured the coast recently here are some of the best places to drink with a view of the waves. The Terrace Rooms & Wine – Ventnor, Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight has a new destination for wine [...]
Heinz sandwich ‘automat’ to flog sarnies in Soho for just 57p Life&Style Heinz will next week launch a pop-up “sandwich automat” in Soho, where it will sell 800 sarnies for just 57p a pop – making it quite possibly the cheapest lunch in London. The two-day takeover of 15 Bateman Street is timed to coincide with the start of National Picnic Week, giving Londoners a snack to [...]
Inside City’s latest Irish pub: London’s poshest Guinness served here June 5, 2026 The Square Mile’s latest Irish pub, London’s poshest, serves steaks with a Guinness jus From the polished mahogany bartops to the Prince-Charles-pulling-a-pint photos, pubs tend to trade on their ubiquity. No one wants to think about design credentials when they go for a pint. Or do they? The Horsemen & Fitzgerald’s, a new City watering [...]
The Suffolk in Aldeburgh: Restaurant with rooms is a super seaside City break June 2, 2026 My first morning at The Suffolk, I woke not long after dawn and took a bleary-eyed stroll across the pebbled beach, where I found the majority of the staff – including owner George Pell – preparing for their morning dip. Not wanting to let the side down, I stripped off my dry robe (borrowed from [...]
I’m 50 – but I feel young dining at Simpson’s in the Strand May 29, 2026 Happy birthday to our top columnist – 50 years young and still eating out every night, especially at Simpson’s in Strand where he feels half his age As I turned 50 this weekend, with a solid celebration at Quaglino’s, a friendly journalist advised me that when it comes to writing, less is more. Or in [...]
Greencore shares slide as M&S sandwich supplier counts cost of Bakkavor takeover May 27, 2026 Food manufacturer Greencore counted the cost of its mammoth deal with rival Bakkavor as integration expenses plunged the firm to a loss in the first half of the year. The FTSE 250 firm – which is a supplier to countless supermarket giants including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S – was weighed down by upfront costs associated [...]
English wine has moved up a notch – here’s why May 26, 2026 English wine is on the up, from Kent’s new Wine Garden of England collective to the Surrey Hills Wine Week. How English counties are racing to establish distinct regional identities English wine is considered a collaborative rather than a competitive industry. The feeling was “a rising tide lifts all ships” as our wines began to [...]
Tom Aikens finds his Muse May 26, 2026 From Norwich to London to Paris, Tom Aikens is serving his life in food, but does the conceit live up to the eat, asks Carys Sharkey Walking through the corridors of Norwich catering college, Tom Aikens knew he was exactly where he wanted to be. After “underperforming superbly” at school alongside his twin Robert – [...]
Lazy Coffee is the best coffee in the City – this is how they do it May 19, 2026 We have launched the Toast the City awards 2026 and throughout the year we’ll be speaking to some of the past winners. Today we caught up with Lazy Coffee founder Matthew Staite, whose Abchurch Yard coffee cart won the Best Coffee award. To nominate your favourite Square Mile spots for the 2026 awards, from bars [...]