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The kitchen at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental in London.Jim Ross for The Globe and Mail

Borough Market: This sprawling market is a grazer's paradise, and a brilliant place to provision for a picnic. Thursday through Saturday. London Bridge tube station; for hours, see boroughmarket.org.uk

The Young Turks: James Lowe and Isaac McHale are two of London's best young chefs. Their run of dinners in the dining room above The Ten Bells, a deliciously grotty East End London pub, was supposed to be a temporary situation, but seems to have become permanent. Truly outstanding cooking, with smart, well-priced wines, in a room that is top-to-bottom rock 'n' roll. Great value too, at £39 ($61) a person, plus wine. The Ten Bells, 84 Commercial St.; youngturks.co.

Neal's Yard Dairy: With its selection of more than 70 farmhouse cheeses from around the British Isles, Neal's Yard is one of the world's greatest cheese shops. Staff are friendly and know their curd; they'll happily let you taste your way around. Don't miss the raw milk Stichelton blue. London Bridge tube station; 6 Park St.; 44-20-7367-0799; nealsyarddairy.co.uk.

Dinner By Heston Blumenthal: Smart, cutting-edge modernist cooking, but approachable for a hotel crowd. The Meat Fruit is the can't-miss dish here, though the Tipsy Cake, made with spit-roasted pineapple, also draws raves. Those wall sconces, by the way, are cast from jelly moulds. Dinner for two, with wine and tip, £190 ($299). The Mandarin Oriental Hotel; 66 Knightsbridge; 44-20-7201-3833; dinnerbyheston.com.

To find the food trucks, check out their website: eat.st.

WHERE TO EAT AND STAY

St. John Hotel: The rooms in this tiny hotel by Fergus Henderson, the pioneering nose-to-tail chef and trained architect are minimalist. There are even a few smaller "from table-to-bed" rooms, meant to render post-prandial taxi rides obsolete (the wine list at the main-floor restaurant is brilliant). Located near the heart of the theatre district, rooms from £150 ($235). 1 Leicester St.; 44-20-3301-8069; stjohnhotellondon.com.

WHERE TO STAY

45 Park Lane: Hotels rarely come more luxurious than this gem in one of London's most prestigious neighbourhoods, at the edge of Hyde Park. If you can imagine it, the rooms have probably got it, from the television built into the bathroom mirror, to the weirdly awesome Japanese toilet, with its built-in sprayers and blow-dry functions, to the espresso machine and fully loaded iPad. The Wolfgang Puck restaurant downstairs, the California chef's first in Europe, does a wicked breakfast. Rooms from £395 ($620). 45 Park Lane; 44-20-7493-4545; 45parklane.com.

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