Clare Smyth, world’s best female chef: ‘I’m not going to stand and shout at someone. It’s just not nice’

She was once told by Gordon Ramsay she wouldn’t last a week in his kitchen. Now, the chef patron of Core in London has been named best female chef at the food industry’s ‘Oscars’. But why is the business still dominated by men?

10 of the best craft-beer bars in Brussels

This selection of breweries and bars underlines Belgium’s place as a beer hotspot and may whet your appetite for the BXLBeerFest at the end of August

‘Five years ago there was nothing’: inside Duqm, the city rising from the sand

Oman’s sparsely inhabited coast of fishing villages and Bedouin camps is being transformed into industrial city with port, luxury hotels and housing for 111,000

The best foundations for summer

In hot weather, I prefer to lighten things considerably

Why the super-rich are taking their mega-boats into uncharted waters

There are more ‘explorer’ super-yachts being built than ever before as adventurous billionaires seek out ‘the rarest of experiences’

Amphibious dressing: how swimwear became daywear

First, it was underwear as outerwear. Now it’s time to wear your swimming cossie to work as the heatwave returns