London

Gymkhana is morally disgusting – and fortunately the food’s disgusting too

18 October 2014 9:00 am

Gymkhana is a fashionable Indian restaurant in Albemarle Street. It was, according to its natty website, ‘inspired by Colonial Indian…

Anthony Horowitz’s diary: Keeping James Bond’s secrets for the Smersh of publishing

11 October 2014 9:00 am

It was quite fun being named as the new writer of 007 — although actually I’d make a lousy spy.…

Dealing with trolls the Swedish way

11 October 2014 9:00 am

How to deal with a troll In Scandinavian mythology, trolls were shady creatures who lived below ground and varied in…

A casino clash worthy of James Bond reaches its climax in the High Court

11 October 2014 9:00 am

A casino drama worthy of a Bond film arrives in the High Court

Jeremy Vine’s diary: Zipcars, hipster milk and the word that means I’m losing an argument

4 October 2014 9:00 am

Last Tuesday I tried to sign up to a new life. My wife and I argued, slightly. ‘I don’t think…

Why my friends love the idea of a nasty, stupid mansion tax

4 October 2014 9:00 am

I see all the flaws with a mansion tax, I really do. And yet some little piece of me, some…

What will it take for us to stop doing business with Qatar?

4 October 2014 9:00 am

Qatari money has flooded into London – but also into much less savoury places

Spectator letters: In defence of the EU, the Welsh and Mary Wakefield

20 September 2014 9:00 am

Breaking the unions Sir: By the time this letter appears we shall know whether the land of my birth has…

‘Moonrise and Pale Dancer’ by Derek Hyatt

The man who brought Cubism to New York

20 September 2014 9:00 am

The American Jewish artist Max Weber (1881–1961) was born in Belostok in Russia (now Bialystok in Poland), and although he…

Rextail: a restaurant for billionaire children

20 September 2014 9:00 am

Rextail is a restaurant for billionaire children, such as Richie Rich. Its owner, Arcady Novikov, has already opened a restaurant…

Rona Fairhead will be good for the BBC – but who was so keen to nobble her rival?

6 September 2014 9:00 am

Hats off to Rona Fairhead, the former Financial Times executive who will succeed Lord Patten as chairman of the BBC…

Fischer’s is like visiting Vienna without having to go to Austria (thank God)

6 September 2014 9:00 am

Fischer’s is Austria made safe for liberals, gays, Jews and other Untermenschen riffraff, because it is a restaurant, not a…

The nun who took down an Isis flag – and stands up for east London's Muslims

30 August 2014 9:00 am

Sister Christine Frost, who works on an east London estate, sees why young Muslim men are going to fight in Iraq and Syria

A.N. Wilson's diary: The book that made me a writer – and the pushchair that made me an old git

23 August 2014 9:00 am

Like many inward-looking children, I always doodled stories and poems. Knowing one wanted to be a writer is a different…

Who cleans skyscrapers?

23 August 2014 9:00 am

Tough at the top The clocks on Big Ben were cleaned by abseiling window-cleaners. Some other big cleaning/painting jobs: —…

Our boys in the Islamic state: Britain's export jihad

23 August 2014 9:00 am

Why we lead the West in exporting jihad

Here comes Boris! The next Tory leadership fight has just begun

9 August 2014 9:00 am

The next Tory leadership battle has just begun

L’Escargot is Soho as Soho sees itself

9 August 2014 9:00 am

L’Escargot, or the Snail, is a famous restaurant on Greek Street, Soho, opposite the old Establishment club; the oldest French…

Sloane Rangers vs Arabs – the battle for Chelsea

12 July 2014 9:00 am

In Knightsbridge and Chelsea, tension simmers between Sloanes and super-rich Arabs

Why I’m now scared of book clubs

12 July 2014 9:00 am

Writing frankly about Jamaica has made me nervous of invitations from strangers. How would this one turn out?

From jailbird to social butterfly – the return of Conrad Black

5 July 2014 9:00 am

The former proprietor of this magazine, Conrad Black, is in London at the moment with his gorgeous wife Barbara, and…

‘Dark pools’ are just another conspiracy of bankers against the public

5 July 2014 9:00 am

It was at the Mansion House dinner last year that a City gent two seats away announced himself to be…

I may not know much about khat, but I know banning it is crazy

28 June 2014 9:00 am

Khat is a leafy stimulant chewed mainly, I gather, by Somalis. This week the government banned its possession and sale.…

At the Chiltern Firehouse, smugness should be on the menu

28 June 2014 9:00 am

Here then is Gatsby’s house, after an invasion by the Daily Mail. It is called the Chiltern Firehouse. It is…

Young Italians flock to London – for just the same reasons it scares me

14 June 2014 8:00 am

Although I live in the country in Northamptonshire, I go to London often — almost once a week — and…