A green oasis for everyone to enjoy in the heart of busy Dalston

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.

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.

Small restaurant on Highbury Corner that started off focusing on (basically) posh kebabs, but which is now producing some of London's most innovative dishes, focused around unconventional meats, cuts, and breads. Not often you can eat incredible food while listening to heavy rock and metal, but Lee Tiernan has nailed a winning formula.

A fantastic fresh handmade pasta shop and restaurant in Shoreditch. If you are looking for authentic Italian cooking, look no further!