Good luck to my fellow Toast the City award nominees! October 21, 2025 It is the day of CityAM’s Toast the City Awards, celebrating the hospitality and placemaking that makes the Square Mile great. I could not be more proud to be attending, as both a judge and a nominee. I would like to reach out ahead of the event to wish all the best to everyone [...]
Liverpool Street Chop House: Should you go over Hawksmoor, Boisdale? October 20, 2025 The closure of Threadneedle Street’s M Restaurant earlier this year, after a decade slinging the capital’s finest steak, was a genuine blow. One of the restaurants that helped the Square Mile shake off its stuffy reputation, it combined a meticulous, scholarly appreciation of meat with a sense of fun, even whimsy. Robot waiters, wine vending [...]
Does Yolk serve the best breakfast in the Square Mile? October 2, 2025 The City is the home of the power breakfast, a place where deals are thrashed out over bacon and eggs. But who serves the best breakfast of them all? Yolk is nominated for Best Breakfast in our Toast the City awards – here’s why they think they should win. Why does Yolk deserve to win [...]
14 Hills: Is it the best casual dining spot in the Square Mile? October 2, 2025 Liam Price, head chef at 14 Hills, tells us why he thinks his restaurant should win the Toast the City Award for Best Casual Dining. Why does 14 Hills deserve to win a coveted Slice of Toast? 14 Hills has established itself as one of the Square Mile’s leading restaurants, offering exceptional food and wine [...]
Old Doctor Butler’s Head is the City’s weirdest – and best? – pub October 2, 2025 We’re celebrating the best of the Square Mile with our Toast the City Awards. Old Doctor Butler’s Head is on the shortlist for Best Boozer. Here’s why the owners think it should win. Why does Old Doctor Butler’s Head deserve to win a coveted Slice of Toast? Old Doctor Butler’s Head (ODBH) is a proper [...]
Luna Omakase: We deserve to win a Toast the City award October 2, 2025 We’re celebrating the best of the Square Mile with our Toast the City Awards. LUNA Omakase at 100 Liverpool St is on the shortlist for Best Restaurant. Here’s why the owners think it can win. Why does LUNA Omakase deserve to win a coveted Slice of Toast? LUNA Omakase deserves recognition for redefining intimate Japanese dining [...]
Cocoa price surge drives chocolate prices higher September 22, 2025 Surging cocoa prices are driving chocolate prices higher, which is having a disproportionate impact on UK food prices. UK food and drink inflation rose to 5.1 per cent in August, in a fifth consecutive annual increase and the highest since January 2024, amid fears that this figure could reach 5.7 per cent by the end [...]
Why South African wine is the GOAT September 8, 2025 South African wine is eternally exciting. It’s a country bursting with maverick winemakers, swaggering onto the wine scene with innovative ideas, original designs and their treasure trove of old vines – a forgotten leftover from the country’s brandy making days. The once blend-relegated Cinsault is now gaining popularity as a refreshing, rustic, red-fruited easy-quaffer from [...]
Gordon Ramsay-backed brand recruits Red Bull F1 star as ambassador August 26, 2025 Red Bull Formula 1 driver Yuki Tsunoda has signed a deal to promote Gordon Ramsay-backed cookware brand HexClad. Tsunoda, 25, will wear the brand’s logo on his helmet when the F1 season resumes this week with the Netherlands Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Superstar chef Ramsay is a minority investor in HexClad and stars with the [...]
Eat, Drink, Sleep, Repeat: The best London and New York restaurants August 20, 2025 Our Toast the City judge Martin Williams gives his bi-weekly opinion on all things dining. This week he splits his time between London and New York. There has been a good amount of excitement in the hospitality sector as of late, with JKS and Dishoom both heading to America on expansion trails. Last weekend I, [...]