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.

They mainly sell art and cultural theory books but they also have a good selection of small press and self-published zines. It’s a great place to browse and get ideas.

A winding side street that links hectic Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, Hanway Street, with its odd mix of old-style Spanish flamenco bars and second-hand vinyl stores, is a bit of an anomaly. I’ll be surprised if they all withstand the Tottenham Court Road redevelopment but I hope they do.

Very lovely bookshop with a fantastic selection of books, magazines, and indie zines. Nicely curated.

Sometimes when I wake up it feels like I am at sea watching a big ocean liner pass by. It is the view from my home in one of the two stepped concrete apartment blocks that make up the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury. When you visit skip the chain stores of the shopping centre below (except for the excellent Renoir Cinema) and instead get an invitation to one of the small but gorgeous flats with their winter gardens or just wander through the spectacular concrete A frames and across the vast sun drenched terraces on podium level.