London
Almost too interesting for Notting Hill: Speedboat Bar reviewed
When you are old enough, you can measure your life in restaurants. I remember, for instance, when the Electric Diner…
The bliss of un-fame
In July, astronomers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System discovered an interstellar object racing through the solar system at…
So long, G-A-Y
The G-A-Y Bar in Soho’s Old Compton Street is to close for good this weekend. It opened in the mid-1990s,…
Inside London’s embassy parties
Like the new school year, ambassadors to Britain usually change each September. Among those leaving this summer are the German,…
Crime and no punishment in Khan’s London
Those of us trapped in Mayor Sadiq Khan’s low traffic neighbourhood scheme are now obedient, resigned. We expect a car…
A Mayfair brasserie for people who work, or at least pretend to: 74 Duke reviewed
There is an immaculate brasserie called 74 Duke at 74 Duke Street, Mayfair: this is postcode etymology. Duke Street runs…
I doubt there’s a better ravioli in London: The Lavery reviewed
The Lavery in South Kensington is named for Sir John Lavery, official artist of the Great War and designer of…
A fictional Edwardian waif’s hungry fantasy: Fortnum & Mason’s food hall reviewed
I like a picnic weighted with history and class terror, which means Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly, which is historical…
In defence of Notting Hill Carnival
This isn’t going to be a piece celebrating the rich cultural tapestry of London’s Afro-Caribbean community, sombrely expressing the importance…
‘Italian that just works’: Broadwick Soho reviewed
This column sometimes shrieks the death of central London, and this is unfair. (I think this because others are now…
Wormwood Scrubs, my deserted little bit of paradise
On the face of it, Wormwood Scrubs is not particularly appealing. I don’t mean the prison, but the common in…
‘I’ve taken to sleeping in my teeth’ – the wartime admissions of T.S. Eliot
‘I’m getting to be a wambling old codger’…‘I haven’t got enough phlegm to undress’, writes the poet, exhausted by readings and broadcasts, in letters spanning 1942-44
The chef does not understand sandwiches: Raffles London at the OWO reviewed
I am mesmerised by the restaurants of Raffles London at the OWO (Old War Office) because war approaches and the…
How not to behave at a London gentleman’s club
After a 5 a.m. start, I arrived at the departure gate in Nice airport to discover there was an air…
The roundabout is a symbol of British liberty
In my last article, I introduced you to the ‘paceometer’, which shows how the relationship between an extra unit of…
Picture perfect: Locatelli at the National Gallery reviewed
I feel for Locatelli, the new Italian restaurant inside the National Gallery, whose opening coincides with the 200th anniversary of…
Save us from the Lime bike invasion
I’m a Londoner born and bred, and I love this city, even though it’s slowly being destroyed by the insidious…
‘This is as good as food gets in London’ – Town, in Drury Lane, reviewed
Town – well-named, it has vitality – is on the ragged part of Drury Lane WC2 near the Majestic Wine…
Highs and lows: The Boys, by Leo Robson, reviewed
Mourning the loss of their parents, two brothers succumb to listlessness and lethargy in a sweltering London gripped by Olympic fever
A man’s restaurant: Victor Garvey at the Midland Grand reviewed
The Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station is George Gilbert Scott’s masterpiece: his Albert Memorial in Hyde Park (a…
How to game the social housing system
Westminster council has announced that every single social housing tenant in the borough will receive lifetime tenancies. No test of…
‘Rushed and under-loved and lacking conviction’: Hawksmoor Canary Wharf reviewed
Hawksmoor is the finest steak chain in London, because it lacks pretension and cares about blood. Years ago, at the…
Food that’s both serious and serene: Babbo reviewed
After a week in which Israel triumphed at the Eurovision Song Contest with second place – western Europe is for…
Everything Ottolenghi should be but isn’t: Delamina Townhouse reviewed
Delamina Townhouse is on Tavistock Street in Covent Garden. It is an Israeli restaurant, and a very fine and subtle…
The creeping Dubai-ification of London
In December 2023, a TikTok influencer called Maria Vehera opened a packet of ‘Dubai chocolate’ in her car and filmed…
