Life & style

The Sheraton Grand's One Square restaurant is a styled and stylish city dining experience

31 May 2012

One Square not only describes a location that takes up the full western side of Festival Square off Lothian Road, but it’s one of those neatly vague names that provides an umbrella for various interlinked functions: café, brasserie, terrace, bar and…

Travel books round-up - June 2012

New books from Hardeep Singh Kohli, Samanth Subramanian and Terry Darlington

22 May 2012

He may be a man of Glasgow, but Hardeep Singh Kohli knows a thing or two about travelling around London. In The 38 Bus: A Love Song to a Bus Route (Unbound) he pours out the emotions he has for the route which has served the capital for a century…

Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms to reopen in time for Fringe 2012

18-month refit and staff changes at George Street venue

25 Apr 2012

Say what you like about modern-day dress sense, but when Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms returns to life, today’s fashionistas will have some stiff competition. Yes, they’ll be excited about the opening ceilidh in July and the high-profile Fringe line-up…

Interview: Eva Verity, creator of Haircuts by Children

Project providing creative space for children and adults to interact in

25 Apr 2012

‘There was one guy who once got a nick on his ear,’ says Eva Verity, ‘but other than that, we’ve had no major injuries.’ I’m thankful there’s no trace of annoyance in Verity’s voice, in spite of my slightly anxious line of questioning. She’s talking…

Dundee fashion label Nkili aims to reinstate the blouse as a key fashion item

24 Apr 2012

Has anyone worn a blouse to greater effect than Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary? She looked filthier in her high-necked, pussy-bowed polka-dot number than in her Agent Provocateur shoot. On the right person, the mother of pearl button, the leg of mutton…

Edinburgh vegetarian restaurant Henderson's wins List award in 50th year

Pioneering business wins Eating & Drinking Guide's Special Award 2012

24 Apr 2012

2012 marks a notable anniversary in Edinburgh’s dining history: Janet Henderson’s first city venture dedicated to vegetarian food opened 50 years ago. In 1962 Janet, along with husband Mac, an East Lothian farmer, set up a ‘farm shop’ in the city…

Health to provide Max Payne 3 soundtrack

The LA noise rockers follow the game-soundtracking example of Opeth, Trivium and others

24 Apr 2012

Ever since the very earliest days of home gaming and the release of the Atari 2600 (1977), videogame music has become a part of cultural life. The lack of processing power meant it was necessarily tinny, bleepy and repetitive. Despite this, 8- and…

Le Bistro Beaumartin adds a French flavour to Glasgow's culinary palette

24 Apr 2012

‘French’ tends to be a label that’s very loosely slapped on a restaurant in Glasgow – often truly being ‘French with a twist of this or that’. That’s changed, however, with Le Bistro Beaumartin popping onto the petite-yet-elite scene to teach Glasgow a…

Booking apartments in London with HouseTrip.com

Source quality apartments at affordable prices

13 Apr 2012

Online travel website HouseTrip.com addresses the age-old problem of finding attractive, welcoming accommodation in London that is good value and provides the genuine feel of home to visitors from outside this iconic city. Ideal for those who have…

Save up for some summer sporting action

2012 Olympics, Wimbledon and F1 at Silverstone on the calendar

5 Apr 2012

It’s shaping up to be a great summer, with London taking centre stage as the Olympics come to town. And as the eyes of the world are focused on the UK, this could be the year that re-energises our attitudes to sport and helps spectators make the…

Peroni Nastro Azzurro hosts a series of intimate dining experiences across the UK

Gianluca Longo hosts dinner at Glasgow's Old Fruitmarket

5 Apr 2012

Over the past few months, Peroni Nastro Azzurro has been hosting a series of unique Italian dining experiences in cities across the UK. Amici di Peroni celebrates Italian style, good food and great company. The dinners are a revival of the Italian…

The best breakfasts in Glasgow

The best all-rounders in the west, plus a few specific breakfast-item highlights

29 Mar 2012

Café Gandolfi 64 Albion Street, 552 6813, cafegondolfi.com Breakfast served: Mon-Sat 8am-noon; Sun 9am-noon. The long-standing, Scottish cuisine-focused eatery has beefed up its breakfasts in recent years, resulting in a menu with eight different egg…

The best breakfasts in Edinburgh

The finest cafes, bistros and restaurants in the capital for a morning meal

29 Mar 2012

Broughton Delicatessen 7 Barony Street, 558 7111, broughton-deli.co.uk Breakfast served: Mon–Sat 8am–3pm; Sun 11am–3pm. What does this place not do well? A great deli, healthy lunches and superb, made-from-scratch breakfasts from morning until 3pm…

Steak, Edinburgh's new meat-loving eaterie

The brash new restaurant makes no claims of subtlety with full-on flavours and pumping music

26 Mar 2012

‘Where beauty meats the beast’ is the strap-line for brash new arrival Steak, archly attached to publicity shots of ladies, puckering their lips in readiness under dangling raw t-bones – although ‘where beauties eat the beast’ might be just as apt.

Bruadar presents well-stocked beer & burger options to Glasgow's West End

26 Mar 2012

Beer and a burger – Bruadar’s is a simple enough formula, but with so many quality variables it is one which delivers genuinely satisfying results. Twenty burgers include the expected beefy standards, a few chicken and five vegetarian choices – all…

Five alternative Easter activies

Bored of egg-hunting? Here’s how the rest of the world marks the occasion

26 Mar 2012

1 Hunky Jesus Contest The devout gather every year at San Francisco’s Dolores Park Easter Celebration to watch a pageant of men in loincloths carrying planks of wood. They are joined by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, ‘cross-dressing…

David Kushner - Jacked

An entertaining, if hyperbolic, 'unauthorised' history of Grand Theft Auto

16 Mar 2012

(Collins) After a similar book on Doom, journalist David Kushner returns to familiar ground with Jacked. This ‘unauthorised’ history of Grand Theft Auto traces the game’s development from its early beginnings in Dundee to become one of the highest…

Style Guide 2012 - My Style

Six Scottish fashion and design creatives talk us through their wardrobes and shopping habits

2 Mar 2012

Name: Dougal Marwick. Job: Vintage buyer and seller at HB Electronics/ copywriter. What three words best describe your style? Chip-toothed smile. Where do you find inspiration? There are so many identikit ‘cool-guy’ blogs these days it’s a bit hard…

Style Guide 2012 - Spring/Summer fashion to focus on fresh, cool colours

We take a look at the forthcoming fashion trends for 2012

29 Feb 2012

Blame the long, grey winter. Blame the soaring unemployment levels. Blame it on the margaritas and piña coladas that fashion designers had apparently been knocking back before sketching out this season’s collections. But as spring approaches, gingerly…

Why we should scrap public entertainment licence fees

Kirstin Innes of Words Per Minute on the value of tax-free arts events

28 Feb 2012

For the last two years, I’ve run Words Per Minute, a mixed night of spoken word, live music, performance and short film. Every month, we present an ever-increasing audience with around seven ten-minute performances, by selected artists at the top of…

West End eaterie Delizique re-invents itself

Snacks, desserts and gourmet pizzas on offer at the Hyndland street deli

17 Feb 2012

There’s one guaranteed way to get the proprietors of delicatessens snapping their grissini in fury – and that’s to open a branch of Waitrose nearby. The upscale chain acts like Kryptonite on proximate independent operations, its economies of scale…

Bollywood: The Coffee Box

Takeaway curry stand situated on Edinburgh's Bruntsfield Links

17 Feb 2012

Inspired by the street food culture she grew up with in India, Nutan Bala left her job as a support worker and opened the hatches on Edinburgh’s first curry and coffee stand. Except for a mixed vegetable dhal, which has proven so popular that it has…

Sony PS Vita handheld console - playtest

We try out the new hardware with some of the PSV launch titles, including WipeOut and Uncharted

3 Feb 2012

Sony’s new PS Vita is a pretty impressive bit of kit. It’s the most powerful dedicated handheld gaming device on the market. In practical terms it’s pretty much a PS3 in your pocket. The full HD OLED screen really pops and, due to the processing power…

Valentine's Day - How to buy lingerie

Don’t get your knickers in a knot - Scottish underwear experts provide expert advice

3 Feb 2012

‘When someone enters the store, and motions to one of the agents, “She’s about your size,” that’s the biggest no-no of all!’ says Jemma Hill, manager at Agent Provocateur in Glasgow. ‘If you’re too shy to ask your partner about sizes, look at the labels…

Valentine's Day - where to take your date

Some seductive suggestions for what to do on or around February 14th

3 Feb 2012

Experience a May-December relationship ... or at least, vicariously experience someone else’s. Among the several films the Glasgow Film Theatre are screening to get you into the Valentines spirit on 14 Feb (including Brief Encounter and French…