By: Steve Dinneen

Life&Style Editor I'm the editor of CityAM 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

All 1146 Articles

How I learned to perform parenie at Banya No.1

October 9, 2025

For a decade I have attended London’s Banya No.1, a spa like no other, where you’re steamed in a sauna, whipped by leaves, dunked in freezing water and then served ice cold beer and dumplings. If you think that sounds like a form of torture (the beer and dumplings notwithstanding), you’re not alone. The apostle [...]
Why the iPhone 17 Pro is the best iPhone Apple’s made in years

October 8, 2025

This review of the new iPhone 17 Pro should probably start with some gushing words about the cameras, which are now capable of “optical-quality” 8x zoom, or the A19 processor that’s so powerful it requires a tiny “vapor chamber” to cool it down, or the screen that’s now so bright you could use it on [...]
The Weir review: Unmissable play returns after three decades

October 6, 2025

The Weir | ★★★★★ | Harold Pinter Theatre Conor McPherson’s 1997 play The Weir has taken on an almost mythical status in the years since it was first staged. It’s now spoken of alongside Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem and Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, a seminal moment in modern British and Irish theatre and a formative work [...]
Rohtko at Barbican: Savage and gripping satire of the art world

October 3, 2025

Rohtko at the Barbican | ★★★★★ Rohtko is one of the most astonishing pieces of work I’ve seen on a London stage. Created by Polish director Łukasz Twarkowski, it’s a genre-defying mash up of theatre, live cinema, installation art, dance and techno. The Barbican stage is filled with an ever-shifting series of sets built inside [...]
The Weir star Owen McDonnell on starring with Brendan Gleeson

October 1, 2025

“This is Ian McKellen’s toilet,” says Owen McDonnell enthusiastically. “Go in and have a look.” Sure enough, there’s a sign on the door of what looks like a broom cupboard that says “Ian McKellen’s WC”. Inside, the walls are plastered floor-to-ceiling with pictures of great thespians – Mark Rylance, Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench [...]
Anita Rani interviews Luca restaurant owners about Michelin starred food and meditative music

September 23, 2025

For the Autumn edition of CityAM The Magazine, broadcaster and author Anita Rani interviews Luca and Clove Club founders Johnny Smith and Daniel Willis about making music and falling in love with food Daniel Willis: So Anita, do you remember how we all met? Anita Rani: Well, which version are we going to give? [...]
Alien: Earth actor Sandra Yi Sencindiver shares her last meal on Earth

September 22, 2025

Alien: Earth actor Sandra Yi Sencindiver tells us the story of her life through food, picking a final meal that includes Danish buns, Korean pancakes and fresh Thai mangosteen I had a bit of a rocky, colourful upbringing. I’ve had different mothers. I’ve lived in different countries. My adopted parents were an American man and [...]
From fake AI journalism to very real lives: An anatomy of a scoop

September 2, 2025

Last week I wrote a wild story that began with an AI-generated pitch about warring London chicken shops and ended with a video call to Nairobi with the man who had willed it into existence. Wilson Kaharua – working under the alias Joseph Wales – was not a criminal mastermind but a small-time SEO writer [...]
A pilgrimage to Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria

September 1, 2025

Simon Rogan’s famous L’Enclume changed the face of the sleepy Cumbria village of Cartmel. We sent Justine Gosling on a culinary pilgrimage to one of the world’s top restaurants. Where is Cartmel? The tiny village of Cartmel, population 300, isn’t your average village. Nestled on the edge of the Lake District and widely considered as [...]
Mass hallucinations: How I caught a rogue AI reporter

August 27, 2025

The ‘customer’ in the fried chicken shop didn’t touch his meal. Instead, he photographed the kitchen door’s keypad and left. ‘Corporate spy,’ muttered the cashier before showing me three identical incidents caught on his security cameras. This is the opening line of a pitch I received from a writer called Joseph Wales, entitled “London’s Fried [...]

Serco hits back after Zia Yusuf accuses FTSE 250 firm of being ‘hostile to Reform’

Royal Ascot worth £140m to UK economy

The best places to eat sandwiches in Lisbon, from bifanas to pregos

By: Steve Dinneen

All 1146 Articles