Rosa, farm to riverside on the Isle of Dogs

Rosa is warm the way a kitchen is warm, immediately and without asking anything in return. Her long chestnut brown curls stopped being tamed years ago; she is 160 cm and curvy, with brown eyes that start laughing first. She dresses in relaxed boho: a wrap skirt, a soft knit, a woven bag, a scatter of thin bracelets that chime when she talks with her hands, which is constantly.

Earthy and easygoing, Rosa is at home anywhere from a gallery opening to a farmyard. Her English is fluent and generous with detail. She bakes on Sunday mornings, usually bread, occasionally a cake that turns out better than she admits. Her flat is lined with records, many of them rescued from charity shops, and she will explain why the crackle is part of the song. Small galleries are her favourite way to spend a wet afternoon.

On the Isle of Dogs she starts somewhere most visitors never find: Mudchute Park and Farm, a real working city farm with the towers of Canary Wharf rising over the paddocks. Llamas, sheep, a café with honest cake. As the light goes she walks you east to The Gun on Coldharbour, the old riverside pub with a terrace facing the Peninsula, for a long, unfussy supper and a view of the river at its widest.

Rosa lives in Marylebone, around half an hour away by the Elizabeth line and DLR, and books Sunday to Thursday, ideally from mid-afternoon into dinner. The Isle of Dogs page gathers the hotels near South Quay; lengths are set out on rates, and booking will fix the time.