Life & style

Sixteen again

25 Jun 2009

A few years back, Joel Pomfret worked front-of-house at No Sixteen on Byres Road for Margaret and Ronald Campbell, the couple who had established the bijou restaurant as one of the most fondly regarded bistros in Glasgow’s West End. Working alongside…

Cycle fashion

11 Jun 2009

Speaking plainly here: cycling is really not very cool at all in this country. It usually seems to involve strapping a multitide of bulky Velcro accessories to yourself and donning unflattering skin-tight Lycra costumes, and not even in the privacy of…

Spotlight on Leith

11 Jun 2009

There they were, defiantly choosing not to choose life. Five years after The Proclaimers put ‘Sunshine’ on it, there were Irvine Welsh’s seminal Trainspotters peeing on Leith’s disused railway tracks, a fitting metaphor for the area’s seedy, debauched…

Cycling to work

11 Jun 2009

Cycling is enjoyable, healthy and makes us feel good. But that’s not why most people in cities do it. Not me anyway. I don’t have ‘reasons’ for cycling any more than I have reasons for walking. Neither do I make use of specialist equipment. ‘Distrust…

Cycle routes in Scotland with food

11 Jun 2009

With its handy bridges and riverside cycle paths, the Clyde is an inevitable focus for cyclists in central Glasgow, so it’s worth keeping in mind that the City Café (0141 227 1010, www.cityinn.com ) in the City Inn on Finnieston Quay is a pretty decent…

Food For Thought - Mark Beaumont

11 Jun 2009

Before a cycling expedition, I try and eat as much as possible and put on some reserves – basically, I try to get fat. So I eat a lot more than the average person, around five to six meals a day adding up to 6000 calories or more. Breakfast is a few…

Taste Test - Energy food for cycling

11 Jun 2009

Banana £0.30, fruit shops everywhere. ••••• Good old-fashioned natural food and what all energy products are trying to recreate in their caffeine or carbohydrate pumped products. Combinations of carbohydrates and B vitamins in bananas give a huge…

Three others to try: Cycling gadgets

11 Jun 2009

HyMini Personal Wind Turbine Comes with a bike mounting bracket and connectors for iPods and most mobile phones. If you are lucky enough to live in a country that’s windy even when you’re not moving, it can charge your goods all the time, so it’s…

Leith Shopping

11 Jun 2009

Much like its bars, Leith’s shops tend to have a charm all of their own. Offbeat eco-friendly Shore shop Flux and Easter Road’s Eero and Riley are top spots for unusual gifts and homeware, while Georgian Antiques affords ample opportunity to browse one…

Side Dishes

11 Jun 2009

The Brand new Hotel Missoni on the corner of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and George IV Bridge is the first collaboration between the Italian fashion house and the Rezidor Hotel Group. The first-floor La Cucina restaurant has a large sharing table, outside…

Six of the Best - Eating & Drinking around Leith

11 Jun 2009

The King’s Wark 36 The Shore, 0131 554 9260 Few things can make a foodie as happy as a portion of homemade fishcakes and frites courtesy of this granddaddy of the Leith eating scene. Oozing olde worlde charm, the Wark’s menu boasts everything from…

What goes around - Orbital

28 May 2009

Orbital were pioneers in the world of dance music, with brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll epitomising up the sound of the illegal rave scene with their marrying of ambient and techno, but perhaps more significantly they managed to turn this music – until…

Tongs of praise

28 May 2009

Summer wouldn’t be summer without the irresistible smell of something sizzling away on a barbecue. Although the traditional BBQ may conjure up images of basic burgers and sausages, there are plenty of pubs now offering something more upmarket, whether…

Dock Life - The Leith Festival

28 May 2009

So what’s The Leith Festival, then? It’s an annual community celebration that takes in comedy, dance, film, literature, music, storytelling theatre, visual art and children’s events – in other words everything. A small affair, is it? Hardly. Its…

Everything's Gone Green - Coloursfest'09

28 May 2009

These straitened times seem to be treacherous ones for festivals, but the last thing we need to get us in the mood for summer fun is a story about another call-off. How about a bit of feelgood news instead? ‘We’re already up 700 ticket sales on where we…

Fete accomplis - The West End Festival

28 May 2009

The West End Festival, which has been going since 1996, is a community festival in the proper sense of the word, running free workshops and concerts, hosting events that involve local businesses and generally inviting residents to celebrate the various…

Round the World

28 May 2009

Just for Laughs Montreal, Canada, 16-26 Jul Legendary comedy fest brings together global superstars of comedy including Tommy Tiernan, Bill Cosby and John Cleese. www.hahaha.com Iceland Airwaves Reykjavik, Iceland, 14–18 Oct Weekend-long…

The Grassmarkets

28 May 2009

Summer’s (almost) here, and the time is right for shopping in the street. As David Bowie might have sung, were he a product of a more capitalist age. However, if you must shop, you could do worse than paying a visit to the newly refurbished Grassmarket…

Cry Wolf

28 May 2009

Edinburgh Zoo has announced the return of wolves following a 16-year hiatus. Three wolves have made their way from the Highland Wildlife Park. Due to hunting, habitat loss and diseases, they are now confined to small pockets in a handful of countries.

Festival people

28 May 2009

THE PROMOTER Sid Ambrose, founder, Wickerman Having been involved in a range of events from raves to scooter rallies and punk events during the 90s, I started Wickerman eight years ago. It was hard going at the time. There was huge local…

Field of Dreams - Festival History

28 May 2009

Jay-Z, Glastonbury 2007 The announcement that Jay-Z was to headline Glastonbury was seen by some – mainly the weekend-hippie middle classes who have adopted their annual pilgrimage as self-serving statement of their true nature whilst working for…

First Word - Terry Callier

28 May 2009

First record you ever bought The first record I ever bought was ‘Crying In the Chapel’ by Sonny Til and the Orioles. Last time you were chatted up The last time I was seriously chatted up was after a concert last year at Wayne State University…

Side Dishes

28 May 2009

● Happy News all round this fortnight as we hear that former chefs at No 16 on Byres Road in Glasgow are hoping to reopen the restaurant. Across town, the Giovanazzi brothers are set to open their third Paperino’s restaurant in the former site of 78 St…

Site Specifics

The Hidden Gardens, Glasgow

28 May 2009

Not so loud. It’s a garden of peace, designed by artists and gentle green-fingered types, tucked away at the back of Tramway.

Trainspotting Tours

28 May 2009

What’s not to love about this year’s Leith Festival programme? Here, Tim Bell waxes lyrical about Irvine Welsh’s famous novel (and subsequent film), Trainspotting, and the images it created of a drug-addled Leith. Check out highlights throughout the…