GET FORKED!: Maltby Street marvels

40 Maltby Street, SE1 3PA
Wine and lunch for two: £35

Aside from the important things - Mr F, my family and friends - I sometimes feel as if London is one of the great loves of my life. I don't feel that way all the time, particularly when it is grey and damp. However, on a sunny weekend such as this, I cannot imagine living anywhere else. When friends talk of their aspiration to live in the countryside, I find myself dreaming of a different, more urban sort of village. This weekend, it was Bermondsey village that caught my eye and, in particular, the unstated brilliance of Maltby Street.

The queue for coffee at Monmouth

Sometimes referred to as a market, Maltby Street is actually a row of railway arch warehouses; many of which open to the public on a Saturday. Some of London's finest producers are here: Neal's Yard Dairy, St John, and Monmouth are amongst the better known, alongside smaller producers such as La Grotta ices who make their ice cream down the road in Kennington. There's Booth's, a fantastic greengrocers, and even a brewery.

St John bakery, round the corner on Druid Street

As if wandering around in the sun with a St John custard doughnut wasn't pleasure enough, we also stopped off at 40 Maltby Street to check out interesting wines and food turned out by an impossibly small kitchen. Glass of beautifully chilled rose in hand, we enjoyed some prosciutto which had that wonderfully slippery fat that only an avowed pig-avoider could dislike. A salad of salt cod, olive oil and tomatoes tasting of sunshine was equally good, though both were outshone by a simple dish of blanched baby leeks and a technically excellent sauce gribiche. With its funky plates and corrugated iron ceiling, this place has all the hallmarks of a London food scene sensation. Better get in quick before the queues become unmanageable. At present, it's only open on Thursday and Friday nights, and on Saturday during the day, although there are plans to start opening on Wednesday evening later this month.

Who's my cream puff?

Borough Market may still draw the crowds but the people in the know seem to be down the road in Bermondsey. I only wish I had found it at the start of the summer.