Jonny Woo's London

Q: Where do you live in London?

A: I live in Hackney and I've been living in the area since 1996.

Q: Where did you last eat out in London?

A: I eat at Bistrotheque quite a lot. It's good for brunch and Sunday lunch. I highly recommend it.

Q: What's the best party you've been to in London?

A: At the moment most of the places I go are house parties. My friend's got a shed in his back garden with disco lights and a sound system. That’s somewhere I often end up.

There's somewhere called Vogue Fabrics on Stoke Newington Road which is a little speakeasy – a grungy, underground, "in the know" place. It will be open soon to the public. The top end of Kingsland Road is the new cool spot.

Q: What's the best show you've been to in London recently?

A: I went to see Hair, which I thought was fab. I like to go and see dance. The last piece I saw was Michael Clark. 

Q: What's your favourite London icon?

A: I'm a big fan of the bus station in Vauxhall. I find it particularly iconic because it's so ridiculous. It's got a big ramp that looks like a bus is going to take off from it.

My friend Jeanette has a shop, Jeanette's, under a shop called Start in Rivington Street in Shoreditch. He/she personifies what's great about style and personality in London. He sells a lot of the London designers: Giles, James Long, Omar Kashoura, Jessica Ogden, Richard Nichol. He's very well connected on the London fashion scene.

Q: Where do you think's the most romantic place in London?

A: Probably Hampstead Heath. A day out with your boyfriend on Hampstead Heath is pretty good. On a nice sunny day you can get away from everyone.

Q: What's your favourite shop in London?

A: My favourite shop is Hunky Dory, a vintage store at the top of Brick Lane. It's run by two lovely guys and they stock 50s through to 80s. They just buy very well and I always find something interesting. It's reasonably priced and they have a good eye for style.

Q: What's your favourite hidden gem in London?

A: Stoke Newington [or Abney Park] cemetery is one of my favourite places in London for a quiet moment. It's very beautiful.

Q: What's the strangest thing you've ever seen in London?

A: If I was made Mayor for the day, the only transport in London would be on the Thames. You'd only be able to travel by boat. I'd have a one-day regatta.

Q: If you could go back to any period in London's history when would it be?

A: Maybe late Victorian. I'd have to be rich. Just to see London in the height of its grimness.

Q: If you could take one piece from a London museum, what would it be?

A: Something from the Egyptian collection in the British Museum. Something fabulous. Some Egyptian gold and wear it!

Q: What do you miss most when you're away from London?

A: I kind of miss the city itself, the geography and the physicality of it. A pint of cider as well!