Way back when (we're talking late 19th century here - shortly before the invention of such staples of modern life as instant coffee, aeroplanes, and Kellogg's Cornflakes), the locally-famous actress, Sara Lane, was widely recognised as the official 'Queen of Hoxton'. The throne may have been empty for quite a while now, but maybe it's time for a successor to be named.

It could be the wonderful, gender-bending door wh*res who lend such colour to nights out East. Or the innumerable star(let)s of the tranny cabaret scene, as pioneered most fully by our beloved Bistrotheque. Icons like the inimitable Jonny Woo, or La John Josef, who's currently taking his marvellous show, I Happen To Like New York, to the very heart of the city. Surely these chaps are queen enough?

But maybe we need something different: a person or place that reflects the full gamut of Hoxtonian life; from Kitsune-led nights of carnage to quirky '50s burlesque, contemporary design (like Joe Wilson's cracking illustration, above) to campalicious extravagance. Standing on the proverbial ashes of the old Industry, it might not be the most royal of venues.