The first time I went to LA I stayed with a friend I had met at Burning Man who'd recently bought a house there. At the end of her road happened to be Gjelina - I didn't know anything about it but walked by and thought it looked pretty cool. Boy was that a good hunch. In the four weeks I stayed in the city, I must have eaten there over 20 times - the staff must've thought I was crazy (or half starved). Go for the simple but totally delicious braised-pork meatballs or grilled-kabocha squash with mint pesto and pomegranate. Someone needs to export that stuff to London, quick.

Silver Lake is the Dalston of LA, overflowing with hip coffee shops, organic grocers and enough material to satiate the entire Insta-foodie brigade. If you've got time, drop into Pine & Crane, Forage and Cliff's Edge, but if you must pick just one, it's got to be Black Cat. Laid-back and fun, don't be fooled by the discount-mall facade - this is a super-stylish tavern with a long bar serving fab cocktails and interesting Californian food, all done in that effortlessly cool "whatever" manner, which I've yet to master.

In-the-know LA pals took me to this Thai institution. Yes, it's in a strip mall and it might have more neon lights in the window than the whole of Las Vegas, but the food is both authentic and delicious - more importantly, my friends claim it's Ryan Gosling's favourite restaurant (though I've yet to spot him) so it must be a good'un. Be sure to book in advance as we waited 45 minutes for a table (and are still waiting for Mr Gosling).