Your usual table? Who eats where: Eagle-Eye Cherry, singer

There are just a few things in life that really matter: love, food and music. All three at the same time is heaven. The western mentality puts career first, but it's not healthy to skew your entire life around that. I have really learned the importance of coming together for family meals from my sister, Neneh. All my most memorable meals have been home- cooked and eaten with family.

My mum and sister are the best cooks in the world, and many people who have come for dinner agree. My mum is an artist. She takes forever to cook a meal, but it's worth the wait. Two years ago we were at Neneh's house in Spain for Christmas, and spent a week just cooking and eating. At one point there was a power-cut, and Neneh improvised and cooked a chicken on an open olive-wood fire, and everyone agreed that the wood really did something to the flavour of the meat. It was eaten in great spirit, which made for a special experience.

Eating out can also be memorable, but in a different way. New York is my city, and there are so many great dishes to be found there; from beef patties in Atlantic Avenue to Vietnamese in Baxter Street. For next to nothing you can always find the best of whatever you want. I like a bit of personal involvement when I'm dining out and I like to customise things on the menu, a flexibility you tend to get at the better restaurants. I've had some good meals in London, in particular at Nobu (19 Old Park Lane, W1, 0171 447 4747) which does a fantastic appetiser; caviare on a fishy mousse. I love sushi, but my current home city, Stockholm, isn't great for it. They just don't have the variety of fish. So a Japanese restaurant is always a good find.

Bad service with a bad attitude spoils any meal for me. Also, there has to be a certain timing in place, a natural lapse between courses. A good restaurant knows this and has its own rhythm. But home-cooked food is still always better than even the best restaurant food. It's homecooked food that you long for when you're on the road touring.