Eating Out
Mele e Pere is Italian for the Cockney rhyming slang of stairs. Which explains this new Soho trattoria's rather delightful window display; hundreds of individually designed Murano glass apples and pears. It looks more like an interiors boutique than...
Shopping
Conceived by Alan Pert of architects NORD - in collaboration with creative platform GOODD - Glasgow’s All That is Solid is an independent book, furniture and design store, along with an artisan coffee shop and gallery space. In short, it's a space...
Bars & Nightlife
Craft beer, and pizza? It's a winning combination that needs little else to achieve the We Heart seal of approval. But then they say those pizzas are made from "lovingly sourced" ingredients - that include flour from Molino Caputo in Naples, yeah,...
Bars & Nightlife
Toilet graffiti is the art-world's unsung hero. Inane scribblings, offensive quips responding to offensive quips, and the wonderfully irreverent (the gents at Manchester's Keko Moku carry the immortal statement, "Idol Minds and Leather Biscuits" -...
Landmarks
The Royal Festival Hall has always been one of my favourite spaces in London. When I first moved to London and hardly knew a soul, I would often wander along the Southbank and find myself there. But it was only much later, when I learnt more...
Hotels
Andaz Liverpool Street has been open for a few years now, but it wasn't until recently that we had the distinct pleasure of bedding down there for the night. Sure, we'd been along to see some of the many art and design happenings that they host - it...
Culture
As Bob's times were 'a-changing', the last few years have certainly seen business 'a-changing', as the modern business folk work - to quote another early 60s classic - wherever they lay their hat. Albiet, of course, should they lay their hat...
Shopping
Famed internationally for their sublime stores, and crisp, clinical branding, equally as much as their premium skin, hair and body products; Australian brand Aesop have come up trumps once more, with their latest London space. Where the brand and...
Shopping
Since featuring Redchurch Street's Hostem early last year, the super-stylish menswear boutique has quickly found itself as one of London's hottest retail outlets; and, in scooping 'Best Retail Interior' at The World Architectural Awards, has...
Hotels
There are very few places that truly take our breath away. Sure, there's plenty of places we call 'breathtaking', but occasionally there's something so special, so unique, that you have a quiet word with yourself about all the overzealous hyperbole...
Eating Out
If Batman were to have a favourite Vietnamese restaurant in London, it may well be Shoreditch's new subterranean delight; Viet Hoa Mess. Designed by local branding/design/interior maestros, VONSUNG, Viet Hoa Mess is the Batcave-like underground...
Landmarks
The Farmiloe Building was my last port of call during this year’s London Design Festival. I was there to see Designersblock; my third design show of the day, fifth show of the weekend, on the last day of an exhausting, exhilarating nine-day...
Stuff Crush
Weirdness is a notion long entwined with the concept of creativity. Mocked by the strait-laced confined to their boxes of conformism, celebrated by the bold and the brave who pursue the outré as a means of pushing beyond the banal. In Weird...
City Notes
In Montreal’s Little Italy, a new arrival is making waves with a fresh take on Italian dining. Pasta Pooks, which opened in March 2025, is a compact five-seat takeout counter serving pasta and natural wine in a space that marries Old World charm...
City Notes
A once-forgotten 19th-century residence in Savannah’s historic district has been brought spectacularly back to life, reincarnated as The Douglas; a refined 16-room boutique hotel at 14 East Oglethorpe Avenue, where design meets old-world...
Dispatches
In a country where club floors open with Buddhist chants and Ladyboys offer dawn alms in corsets and stilettos, Elizabeth Waterman has found a world of contradictions too vivid to ignore. Over the past three years, and across four extended trips,...
Dispatches
There's a paradox about self-care, which is that those who need it most are probably the least likely to practice it. If you're one of those people, you might even be put off by the term self-care. Maybe it sounds too self-indulgent to you. If...
Dispatches
Looking for a Japanese tutor in Chicago without breaking the bank? You’re not alone. Whether you’re aiming to order ramen with confidence, ace a language exam, or shape your skills for business or travel, one thing’s clear: good private...
Dispatches
If you’ve ever looked at your balcony and thought, “What a wasted space,” you’re not alone. Many of us live in homes where every square foot counts, yet balconies often remain underutilized. Whether it’s too small, too plain, or simply...
Dispatches
Recognising the world’s most inspiring work across design, innovation and creativity, the A’ Design Award & Competition stands as one of the most respected and far-reaching international design accolades. Each year, a diverse panel of academics,...