Local resident Rebeka Cohen talks about her favourite shopping haunts and leaving Islington for an exciting new eco-home

“I’ve been living in Islington since October last year. I love Saturday mornings where you can just get up and go to the fishmonger for your Sunday lunch, and then get a little dress at Comfort & Joy if you need to! The cinema’s there and every night of the week you can eat somewhere different. We do eat out a lot, though we tend to focus on our favourites.

There’s a bit of an edge here. There’s a lot of people who are young professionals, who can go out and enjoy themselves. But there’s a mix in the population and that makes it more exciting. We’ve got friends in Highbury, Holloway and Angel.

I love Masala Zone on Upper Street. And there’s a new Indian opened on Cross Street and a Latin American place on Essex Road. Then there’s Sacré Peu and the Montmartre on Essex Road and the Duke of Cambridge, which is an organic-gastro pub on the canal.

I love Spice, a shoe-shop on Upper Street, and there’s an amazing shop on Essex Road called Comfort & Joy, I think the owners design and make all the clothes – beautiful fabrics, a bit funky and really well-made. I also love going to the Gill Wing kitchen shop, it’s an inspiration! And on Cross Street there’s an amazing lingerie shop called Tallulah Lingerie. I also go into interior design shop Aria a lot to look at the expensive plastic chairs! And I love being so close to Whistles and Noa Noa.

We try and get our fruit and veg at a little grocery store at the end of Cross Street. And there’s an amazing fishmonger on Essex Road at the junction with Cross Street. It’s meant to be the best fishmonger in London – there’s a queue every Saturday morning and Moro get all their fish there. There’s also a butcher and bakery close by, so it means we can get most things locally. You do recognise friendly faces. There are definitely the same kind of people as me shopping, eating out and going to the theatre.

My mum and dad run a Fairtrade Cooperative in their village in the north of England. Quite often I get loads of Fairtrade pasta and coffee, and Brazil nuts. I do miss being close to a Fresh 'n’ Wild which was the great thing about Old Street. We recycle everything we can. We use a big green bag, but unfortunately it doesn’t always get picked up, so we have to go and search for the recycling bins.

I love my job in publishing. It’s the perfect mix of art and books! I love collapsing on the sofa with a book. I’m reading the Alexander McCall Smith books at the moment. And I love sewing. My next project is to enrol on the Lingerie course at the London College of Fashion.

We are actually moving though! It’s very exciting. We’re moving to an eco village in Zone 4. It’s called BedZed and it’s the most wonderful place! It’s a community of about 80 residences. It’s all built around the principle that everything is carbon neutral, so electricity is generated on site from woodchip and water is recycled. It’s about £50,000 less than your average price of a one-bedroom flat. I’m very sad to be leaving Islington, but very excited too. If I had the choice and could buy an ecological home in Islington I would!"