Restaurants
Casse-Croute
Weve fallen back in love with trad French this year and this bijou bistro is largely responsible. Tiny, with an ever-changing menu and staff who are more French than Camembert, its the type of restaurant everyone wants as their local.
Casse-Croute, 109 Bermondsey St, London, SE1 3XB; 020 7407 2140; cassecroute.co.uk
Hoi Polloi at the Ace Hotel
The chaps behind Bistrotheque and Shrimpys, David Waddington and Pablo Flack, have played a blinder with this modernist brasserie. Its not just that it is housed in a room so chic it would make Coco Chanel seem dowdy, it also serves delicate European food from morning until night. Try the date pudding you may fall in love.
Hoi Polloi, 100 Shoreditch High St, London, E1 6JQ; 020 8880 6100; hoi-polloi.co.uk
Brasserie Chavot
Dinner at Eric Chavots latest eatery is like having a big, garlicky bear hug. The food is frill-less, expertly-executed and Gallic to its core. Order the choucroute garnie and you'll soon understand why Michelin gave it a star within months of opening.
Brasserie Chavot, 41 Conduit St, London, W1S 2YF; 020 7183 6425; brasseriechavot.com
Koya Bar
The sister restaurant of John Devitts Soho udon noodle den, Koya, this titchy (25-cover) bar is the perfect place to have an umami-laden lunch in central London, and well worth braving the queue for a table.
Koya Bar, 50 Frith Street, London, W1D 4SQ; 020 7434 4463; koyabar.co.uk
Cafe Murano
Oh Café Murano, let me count the ways we love you: that marble-trimmed room, your Italian-led wine list, and, oh, that risotto Milanese with osso buco. Does chef Angela Hartnett ever put a foot wrong?
Cafe Murano, 33 St James's St, St James's, London, SW1A 1HD; 020 3371 5559; cafemurano.co.uk
Ritas Dining
Clever Jackson Boxer has resurrected Ritas, his East London, fried chicken restaurant. Now in branché Hackney Central, its gone a little upmarket, and the Iberico pork chop with cornbread is so good it deserves its own poem.
Ritas, 175 Mare St, London, E8 3RH; 020 3096 1530; ritasbaranddining.com
Grain Store
Brunot Loubet, the big French chef who likes dainty little dishes, lets the veg take centre stage at this restaurant in a former grain store in Kings Cross. Never before has so much been done so successfully with a heritage carrot.
Grainstore, Granary Square, 1-3 Stable St, Kings Cross, London, N1C 4AB; 020 7324 4466; grainstore.com
Gymkhana
An education in Indian food in W1, taste Keram Sethis strident butter pepper garlic crab and duck dosas and youll never want to eat a curry anywhere else.
Gymkhana, 42 Albemarle St, London, W1S 4JH; 020 3011 5900; gymkhanalondon.com
Bars
The Shenkman Bar at The Keepers House
Tim Mitchell
Oliver Peyton has done the seemingly impossible: hes made a bar in an art gallery sexy. The Shenkman, with its soft lights and bar as red as a robins breast, is smokin' hot. It also has the distinction of being the only place I know where, when you order a Bloody Mary, they puree the tomatoes for it as you wait.
The Shenkman Bar, Keepers House, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD; 020 7300 5881; keepershouse.org.uk/food-drink/bar/
Basement at the London Edition
Alcoholic smoothies of Herculean strength, music programmed by Seb Chew and Aimee Phillips and lighting that looks like it has been appropriated from a landing strip all make what is without doubt Londons hottest club.
Basement at the London Edition, 10 Berners Street, London, W1T 3NP; 020 7781 0000; edition-hotels.marriott.com/london
Clove Club Bar
The Young Turks have grown up and got themselves a proper home in the old Shoreditch Town Hall. If you have time, check out the five-course set menu in the dining room or else head to the bar for snacks and a glass of Chablis or three.
Clove Club Bar, Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, London, EC1V 9LT; 020 7729 6496; thecloveclub.com
Sager and Wilde
It may have a name that sounds a bit like a mid-80s cop duo, but this place is very much at the bleeding edge when it comes to wine. It has a compendious list, some names are familiar others a surprise, and serves a vast number of them by the glass, too.
Sager and Wilde, 193 Hackney Rd, London, E2 8JL; 020 8127 7330; sagerandwilde.com