Rotorino is a lovely little Italian, intimate but casual spot in East London. The food is great and when the weather is good - having your wine and pasta outside is nice.

I walk a lot; the best way to experience a city. So it's sometimes to do with the way places join up. This cast concrete letterform is a part of the Lycée's gateway. Each of the form's facets arrives at a different character, so six possible letters come from each cast object. I've never been inside the Lycée but always walked through this way up to the V&A, in order to examine again and again how each form works. The surfaces set the tone for the V&A and its incredible Ceramics floor, a perennial inspiration.

Great comic shop that stocks small press, and everything else you'd expect to find. The kids section starts at early ages and has something all the way up.

One of London's best kept secrets, Spiritual Bar is a small and super welcoming live music bar on a side road near Chalk Farm station. Always somehow busy but not too packed, they play host to most of London's best emerging blues, rock and folk musicians, and owner Raf is the nicest dude you could meet. And makes a serious mojito

Leila McAlister's grocery shop and café off Arnold Circus, Shoreditch. You can find the best of everything, from jars of horseradish to eggs and croissants.