My London: Thomasina Miers

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Queen’s Park. We have an incredible farmers’ market on Salusbury Road every weekend, a park that hosts outdoor cinema screenings and the magic Overground that gets me East when I want some action.

Building you’d like to live in?

Apsley House on Hyde Park Corner (above). I could go swimming in the Serpentine every morning.

Best meal you’ve had?

The game menu at Gymkhana. The venison chops on the chargrill were so good that I fought for my husband’s scraps.

Best place for a first date?

Dinerama or Street Feast. You’ll never run out of alcohol or food and it’s informal so you can get messy.

Favourite shops?

I love Liberty for its brilliantly edited accessories, make-up and Christmas decorations, and Neal’s Yard Dairy for presents. The salted caramel cupcakes at Violet Cakes are to die for.

Where do you go to let your hair down?

You always get a good cocktail at Quo Vadis. A whisky sour is my favourite, with a side of chips.

Most romantic thing someone’s done for you?

My husband once crossed London to collect my bike, which I’d forgotten somewhere East. I’d been filming all day, had just had a baby and was totally washed out. He just said, ‘Jump in a taxi and I’ll take care of everything.’ For me, romance is in the everyday small gestures.

Last play you saw?

Ivo van Hove’s A View from the Bridge at the Young Vic. Physical, visceral and in spitting distance of Mark Strong.

Who do you call when you want to have fun?

My foodie crew: Stevie Parle of Craft at The O2, Rotorino and the Dock Kitchen, and Joseph Trivelli, head chef at The River Café.

Building you’d like to be locked in overnight?

Buckingham Palace. I once went there for a state banquet for the Mexican president. I couldn’t find the right entrance and ended up running across the lawn and getting funny looks from the guards.

Best thing a cabbie has ever said to you?

‘You’re GORGEOUS!’

What are you up to at the moment?

Putting the finishing touches to our Day of the Dead Festival.

What would you do if you were Mayor for the day?

Plant fruit trees on every street and orchards in every park. Each autumn you’d get bounties of fruit and people would have to get together to figure out what to do with it.

Last album you downloaded?

John Newman’s Revolve. It’s such perky music with real feeling.

Favourite club?

The Arts Club on Dover Street. I like dancing to the mix of hip-hop, reggae, drum and bass, swing and Brazilian funk.

Best piece of advice you’ve been given?

‘Enjoy life and have fun.’ Wise words from my mother.

Favourite discovery?

The water taxi to Greenwich. You appreciate the vastness of the city.

Biggest extravagance?

Clothes. I love Temperley, McQueen and Stella McCartney. I inherited my grandmother’s wardrobe — she was a model in the 1940s to the 1980s. She was once stopped in New York by Humphrey Bogart who bought her a cocktail because she was wearing a great hat.

What do you collect?

Cookbooks. My current favourite is Tim Anderson’s Nanban, an insight into Japanese food.

Thomasina Miers and Wahaca’s Day of the Dead celebrations are at Tobacco Dock, E1, on 7 November (wahaca.co.uk/dotd)