Jonathan Downey is the man behind Soho's original secretive speakeasy, Milk and Honey, East London's oenophilic paradise, The East Room, a members' only chalet in Chamonix, and the rest of the international Match Group's liquid empire.

What’s your best kept London secret?

Hmmm… Anything that’s any good – be it shop, bar, restaurant etc – usually gets well-known pretty quickly these days. I’ve got a priceless secret and free car parking space in Soho that’s just there for anyone to use but always seems always to be available whenever I want it. I’m not telling you where it is though.

I’m not sure I should tell you about this one either but we do have a sex room at Sosho. It’s in the lounge and although it’s tiny (good for two or three close friends maybe) we’ve designed it like a mini boudoir with mirrored ceilings and a red leather padded sex bench. It’s very popular on club nights and a lot nicer than having to go to the toilets for a shag.

“I’m not sure I should tell you about this one either but… we do have a sex room at Sosho. It’s very popular on club nights and a lot nicer than having to go to the toilets for a shag.”

Where do you go to escape a) within the city, and b) outside of the city?

I love Broadway Market on a Saturday for Climpson’s coffee, Claire’s cupcakes and a Northfield Farms burger with that lovely blue cheddar they do. Most weekends, if it’s not pouring down, you’ll find me cycling down the Regent Canal from my house in Hoxton to Limehouse via a whizz around the pools in Victoria Park. Sometimes, though, it’s best just to escape into the bottom of an empty whisky glass – which I often do in The Red Room at Milk & Honey.

Outside of London, it tends to be wherever I have a (semi) legitimate business reason for being there. I love The Clubhouse in Chamonix, where I try and spend at least 4 weeks every season on the snow. In the summer, it’s Ibiza, where I’ve been going for 25 years and where we have a Match Bar now. I just love that place for all the right (and also for so many very wrong) reasons.

Favourite restaurants/eats?

Posh/pricey: Eyre Brothers for the jamon iberico and the Mozambique prawns, Roka for the rock shrimp and Korean lamb cutlets, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon for the langoustine en papillotte and the crinkle cut chips made by chefs dressed as ninjas, La Petite Maison for the crab and lobster salad and the lemon chicken, Barrafina for lots of little bits of good stuff, Moro for wood fired pork, The East Room for the DIY Dining, The Modern Pantry for things you can’t get anywhere else, Yauatcha for a good place to meet and eat and be able to talk.

Cheaper/pork: Shanghai in Kingsland Road for char siu pork, Bodean’s in Soho for pulled pork, and the Tapa Room at Providores for pork belly breakfasts

“I love Broadway Market on a Saturday for Climpson’s coffee, Claire’s cupcakes and a Northfield Farms burger with that lovely blue cheddar they do. Most weekends, if it’s not pouring down, you’ll find me cycling down the Regent Canal from my house in Hoxton to Limehouse via a whizz around the pools in Victoria Park.”

Favourite shops?

Bread & Honey on Whitecross Street, where Laurent and Laurent are just great. The Paul Smith Sale Shop on Avery Row, where I’ve been buying stuff since the week it opened (20 years ago?). I’m always in Two Columbia Road talking to Keith and buying rosewood furniture for a third the price you’d pay in Notting Hill and I love catching up with George at Kush Interiors. Nick Heywood has a great lighting shop next to Alfie’s, just off Lisson Grove. But my favourite "proper shopping" shop is Diverse on Upper Street.

Favourite bars/drinks?

My favourite bars are my own or they are in New York or Melbourne. I don’t really like drinking anywhere that I don’t own anymore – though for many years the opposite was true, because it always felt like work. I like to go and see Salvatore at Fifty when I can. The guys at Green & Red are cool. And I always love a drink wherever Dick Bradsell is working – Colony Room, Gerry’s, 23 Romilly Street…

Favourite time of year in the city?

Any time it’s warm enough to get the barbeque going in the back garden.

Favourite view of London?

From the river on a boat. But the view from Paramount looking east is absolutely spectacular.

“My favourite view of London is the river on a boat. But the view looking east  from Paramount at the top of Centre Point is absolutely spectacular.”

Complete the sentences:

I can’t make it through the day without… a nap.
Londoner who most deserves to be on a stamp is…Dick Bradsell.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Cranberry and pecan flapjacks from Leon.

If you could burn down any building in London, what would it be and why?

Any building where Westminster council officials might be – particularly those who deal with licensing!