Oenophile Wine Tipster asked me the other day which areas of London I thought currently offer excitement and promise in the realms of food and drink. I must have come up with a short list of around 12; yes, it’s that tempting lip smack going on right now. Recession? What recession?!

After a lot of action and a couple of short discussions (arguments) with my colleagues, I narrowed down the list to the top 5; the 5 suburbs that are, right now, hotter than a ticket to the 100m Olympic final.

SW1X
This prosperous address is studded with Michelin stars. Amaya, Apsleys, Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus and Zafferano each have one. Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley has two!

So it didn’t take long for people to realize there might be something to this postcode and in January 2011 the resourceful Heston Blumenthal opened his Dinner restaurant in Knightsbridge. Within a year, he too had stolen a Michelin star.

The most recent celebrity chef to move to the area is Mark Hix, who has just opened at the Belgraves Hotel on the outskirts of Belgravia. It is Mark’s Bar on the mezzanine of the hotel that I am going to recommend; And not just because it has a cigar garden. Like its sister bar in Soho, Mark’s Bar has Nick Strangeway’s name all over the cocktail menu, so expect plenty of experimentation. The bar food menu is also worth discovering. Chef Hix has peppered it with delicacies like the Moyallon Shorthorn Sirloin Steak Sandwich and the decadent Braddock White Duck Egg Scrambled with Osetra Caviar.

There are two other recent additions to SW1X that I think you should try. First, the revamped Rib Room restaurant at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel, where you’ll find seasonal British cuisine (although, actually, there’s a clue in the name: order the roast beef rib) and over 500 wines and champagnes. Also, the menus are presented in a futuristic way on interactive iPads. Neat.

Not to be outshone on the tech front is the stylish new Azerbaijani restaurant, Baku, (no, it’s not the only Azerbaijani restaurant in London), which also offers iPad menus, each with a variety of traditional dishes. These dishes use fresh herbs, vegetables, fruits, and grilled meat (although, that said, the Caspian Sea sturgeon is about as authentic as you can get without buying a plane ticket to Baku; the capital city, not the restaurant, obviously). A good selection of Georgian wines too.

Great Portland Street and beyond
Flute Champagne bar moved into Fitzrovia late last year and has been picking up pace ever since. A definite destination bar, especially for lovers (beware of private alcoves). It’s a numbers game at this basement hideaway thanks to the 100 bottled sparkling wines and champagnes on offer; 25 per bottle; over 20 varieties of Vietnamese snacks.

Continuing the underground theme with an air of dangerous liaison is the new bar The Lucky Pig, which also opened in late 2011. Once again, the curtained booths are a must for love affairs. Only this time, cocktails are the libation of choice.

If you prefer something a little more sociable, the all-day Riding House Cafe, the latest offering from the team that set up The Garrison and Village East in the back streets of Bermondsey, is packed almost constantly. Popular with the nearby trendy trade, this brasserie restaurant (which you can book) and bar (which you can’t) is itself de rigueur thanks to its modern menu of small plates (you’ll need at least four) and funky decor. (squirrel lighting fixtures, anyone?).

St. John’s Hill
Yes, you will need to take out your Oyster card for this one. Boris bikes don’t venture that far into Zone 2 territory. You’ll thank us, though. You could spend all day on this patch of asphalt and never feel the need to leave. Start with a delicious brunch at the popular Ben’s Canteen, before heading to the new Plough brasserie for a small-plate lunch (those two words again), including the now-famous Egg Scotch and Black Pudding (with a pint of , naturally). Your evening will then slowly scroll through the sands of time to the Victorian era, when bars and restaurants, like the new Powder Keg Diplomacy, were lauded for their national pride. Exquisitely crafted spicy cocktails, bizarre decor that borders on the circus, and a hearty menu that simply can’t be faulted. Almost everything that is sold in this place is British. Finally a place in South London where I can find Chapel Down Bacchus 2010! Hurrah!

soho (of course)
Soho’s Dean Street is one of London’s best streets for eating: Dean Street Townhouse, Duck Soup, Cay Tre and Polpetto have popped up in the last 18 months to make sure of that. As is Bistro Du Vin, the new sister restaurant to Bistro Du Vin in Clerkenwell. The menu is aglow with meaty delicacies and you can sample all kinds of sweetbreads, calf livers and marrow. Two points to note: the enomatic wine system and the wine list of more than 200 wines; in addition, a Cave au Fromage (Heaven of Cheese) of more than 70 cheeses. Be warned though, this unusually large (for Soho) restaurant is sadly not open on Sundays.

Wardour Street in Soho is also well known for its culinary nightlife and Carom, the Indian restaurant that has risen from the ashes of Meza, is making its mark as more than just a pop up with its casual sharing plates.

Further west, at the Carnaby Street end of Soho, Pitt Cue Co. is the first permanent restaurant, if you can call it that; it’s tiny: from the purveyors of last summer’s popular BBQ Shack on the South Bank. Supposedly the “finest example of Texas BBQ in London,” this eatery offers platter fare of pulled pork and chicken wings, while for drinks, you’re looking for the ultimate BBQ accompaniment: beer or beer-based cocktails. bourbon.

meat-mad mayfair
Vegetarians, stop reading immediately. This year Mayfair is mostly doing meat, glorious meat. Yes, indeed, meat is back in fashion (thankfully). London W1 is therefore recently blessed with Wolfgang Puck’s first European restaurant, Cut on Park Lane, as well as Restaurant 34, specializing in grass-fed and free-range organic beef, and Burger & Lobster, backed by Goodman Steakhouse, which might not win any awards. awards for the coolest name of the year, but when you consider that that’s all they offer, you realize they got it right.