PLACES: DAKOTA

AS IF NOTTING HILL wasn't already stuffed with achingly fashionable eateries, since November its fun-loving inhabitants have had a new watering hole. Dakota, new baby sister to the established Montana in Fulham, is an attempt by directors Drew Barwick and Kevin Finch to bring "contemporary American" cuisine to London - there are plans for further venues later this year. Here, you can enjoy your grilled Iowa rib eye steak or jalapeno polenta with New World wine in feng-shui'd surroundings almost reminiscent of the birch and maple forests of the American north-west - well, kind of. The partitions, at any rate, are made of very authentic-looking logs. Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney and Boy George have all been sighted.

Dakota,127 Ledbury Road, London W11, 0171 792 9191