My last trip to Brussels was 10 years ago, and even then, I was supposed to be going to Paris. This time, I was back in the Belgian capital for five days during the recent heatwave. I was working for most of it, but I managed to see a fair bit of the city — and found some wonderful places to eat, drink and wander.
In June, my job took me to Brussels where I spent five days in the Belgian capital for World of Coffee. I didn't have a lot of free time but I still visited eight great specialty coffee shops and tasted coffee from even more Belgian roasters at the show.
As signs of spring emerged last weekend, I headed out into the sunshine. My destination? Belgravia, where one of my favourite London roasters, Workshop Coffee, has returned after a year-long absence with a gorgeous new specialty coffee shop.
I've been visiting Cannes for over two decades and until recently, there was little in the way of specialty coffee in the French Riviera city — unless you count the pourovers I brewed at my parents' place! Over the past few years, that's started to change and in this guide, I'm rounding up some of my favourite specialty coffee shops in Cannes.
I'm taking a break from my Guatemala and Belize blogs to pick out some of my favourite specialty coffee shops, restaurants, bars and individual dishes from all those I visited for the first time in 2025, in London and on my travels around the world.
Last Saturday, I took a day trip to Leigh-on-Sea: a new-to-me seaside destination that's just a 45-minute train journey from London. Once a busy fishing port, Leigh has stacks of character with cobbled streets, historic buildings and wide array of restaurants, cafes and shops, as well as a lovely sandy beach.
Colourful houses, a world-famous carnival and market and, of course, a film with a certain H. Grant and J. Roberts. These are just a few of the images London’s Notting Hill conjures up. But there’s a lot more to the neighbourhood than elegant architecture and *that* movie. My one-day itinerary will help you uncover Notting Hill’s rich cultural and social history, and make the most of its excellent dining and shopping.
Since I moved back to London 15 years ago, I've spent a lot of time eating my way around the city's increasingly diverse restaurant scene. To help me keep track, I started jotting down my favourites in a Moleskine notebook, which eventually evolved into a Google Sheet and then a blog post in 2016. An update was long overdue and here it is: my 50 favourite restaurants in London.
While I was back in Oxford last weekend, I finally made a long-awaited visit to Green Routes, the flagship cafe of local roaster Routes Coffee. Located on Magdalen Road, Green Routes serves top-notch specialty coffee and brunch in a cosy, multi-level space. It's well worth the stroll (or short bus ride) from Oxford city centre to East Oxford.
