Allegra Stratton's My London

The BBC journalist drinks in Dalston and shops in Stokey
28 March 2013

Home is…

Canonbury. It has good shops, such as the Gallo Nero delicatessen, and Newington Green is a minute away.

Most romantic thing someone’s done for you?

My husband, then boyfriend, James surprised me with a trip up to the top viewing gallery of St Paul’s. He intended to propose but I hadn’t told him I was scared of heights, until we got stuck behind some dawdling Americans. He held my hand all the way, which was very sweet, especially as he had been thwarted because I was in no fit state for a marriage proposal. He proposed the next day on the terra firma of Primrose Hill.

Favourite shops?

The Fruit and Veg Shop near Newington Green is one of the best in London; James Elliott for a weekly meat shop; I Camisa in Soho for its sugared almonds; the Cloth House on Berwick Street for quilt fabric; and Superdrug because I’m a female reporter.

Last play you saw?

Sadly, Newsnight and the theatre don’t mix. The last thing I saw was Dream of the Dog at the tiny Finborough Theatre in Earls Court, put on by my friend Katie McAleese.

Best place for a nightcap?

A glass of white wine at Bistrotheque in Dalston.

First thing you do when you arrive back home?

Get on a bus. I find Routemasters, especially the new ones, very soothing. The No 11 is the best route — it’s almost like a tour bus.

Best meal?

Chicken Yogurtlu Beyti (yoghurt, bread and chicken) at Mangal on Arcola Street, E8.

Earliest London memory?

The first time Dad took me to see that huge dinosaur in the Natural History Museum. I was very small compared to the dinosaur and completely awestruck.

Building you’d like to buy?

Cromwell’s tower in Canonbury for my husband. He has few wants in life but this square tower is one of them.

Favourite discovery?

The cupboard in the House of Commons crypt where Emily Davison hid on the night of the 1911 census so she could say that her address was ‘the House of Commons’. There is a plaque dedicated to her.

Who’s your hero?

George Eliot for writing Middlemarch, and Tina Fey and Stephanie Flanders because they’re both real legends.

Building you’d like to be locked in overnight?

The Palm House at Kew Gardens because it’s warm and exotic.

Animal you’d like to be?

A red kite, like the ones that surf the thermals above my mum’s house in the Chilterns.

What’s your biggest extravagance?

Getting a blow-dry at Charles Worthington with my friend Eleanor Mary Wilcox ahead of a big party.

Best piece of advice?

Patrick Wintour, my old boss at The Guardian, said: ‘It’s as important to be good as to get a good story.’

Best thing a cabbie has ever said to you?

‘You’re off Newsnight, I remember your first show. You were nervous. You’re not any more.’ It was an appraisal in a cab.

Best for a first date?

La Poule au Pot is a lovely French restaurant in Pimlico.

Last album you downloaded?

Metronomy’s The English Riviera.

Best place to let your hair down?

My front room, with apologies to my neighbours. We occasionally play music loudly; a favourite is the Ibiza remix of Inner City’s ‘Good Life’.

Have you had a run-in with a policeman?

Yes, but I was with them not against them. It was in the aftermath of the riots and some chippy kids were trying to start a fight with the police and I stepped in to defend them.

Favourite pub?

The Dove in Hammersmith. I used to do a lot of rowing when I was younger and we’d go there afterwards.

What would you do as Mayor?

Embark on a programme of building Roman baths. The Romans had it right that sitting and sweating is very healthy. I would also put up a statue to Mary Wollstonecraft on Newington Green.

At the moment you are…

I’m working up an idea for a documentary on Disraeli and his allure for modern politicians.

What do you collect?

Belts that go with dresses — to hang my microphones from.

Allegra Stratton is political editor of BBC Two’s Newsnight

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