PLACES: THE DELFINA STUDIO CAFE

Hub of the new, trendier Bermondsey (see Reporter, page three), The Delfina Studio Trust was established in 1988 by Delfina Entrecanales, an elderly businesswoman from Madrid, writes Sam Holden. She wanted to provide studio space for 35 resident artists who might otherwise have struggled to find such abundant time and space with which to continue their upwardly mobile trajectories. One such artist, Mark Wallinger, features in the "Sensation" exhibition at The Royal Academy. Agreeably housed in a capacious former chocolate factory, The Delfina gallery exhibits six shows a year by both guests and residents. The Cafe serves fashionable food to an eclectic mix of City suits and arty types. But the piece de resistance is the fact that you can gawp at real, struggling (though not starving) artists who take their lunch, for which they pay only pounds 1, at a table reserved just for them.

The Delfina Studio Cafe, 50 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UD, 0171 371 2600