"I love Sunday mornings in Marylebone. Sometimes I sit outside with a coffee and listen to the church bells ringing - it's almost like Ambridge!" says Patricia Michelson contentedly, offering me a slice of Shorrocks Lancashire cheese, while around us, in her shop La Fromagerie, people gossip over plates of charcuterie and cheese and glasses of wine at big wooden tables. "I get such a buzz when everyone comes in with their armfuls of flowers and baskets of shopping, and we chat about what they've bought, what they are going to be eating that evening, and how we can put together some cheeses, or some other lovely bits. It's like having family around."

Something special is happening in Marylebone. You could spend all day happily eating and shopping for food in and around the high street: perhaps a Tuscan breakfast at the family-run Caffe Caldesi before buying your cheese from La Fromagerie; some thick, tasty chops from the free-range butchers, the Ginger Pig; bread from the acclaimed speciality baker Paul; charcuterie from the deli Speck, or Conran's Orrery Epicerie; or a piece of cod from the Victorian fishmongers, Blagden's, which has been in the same family since the Sixties. Drop into Paul Rothe's deli and provision shop, which dates from the early 20th century; have lunch at the Art Deco fish and chip shop, The Golden Hind, at Peter Gordon's Providores, or No 6 George Street, with its deli at the front and simple, rustic restaurant at the back. Then into Divertimenti for a kitchen gadget or two; maybe coffee and a pastry at Patisserie Valerie

And no, this isn't just some fashionable new foodie enclave. Something sturdier is happening in Marylebone, something that is tapping into a latent yearning in all of us, for a slower time, when buying food from caring local shopkeepers could be a sociable, satisfying experience, light years removed from the tight-lipped, stressed-out queue at the supermarket checkout. And leading from the front, from her welcoming shop in Moxon Street, is Michelson.

Once in a while you come across people who have the power and energy to change things purely by the force of their beliefs and a love of what they do. It is over 12 years now since Michelson's family "bullied" her into opening her own cheese shop in Highbury in North London, from where she championed the produce of committed farmers throughout Britain, France and Italy. London's chefs sought out her wares for their cheeseboards. Small production oils from Liguria followed, along with artisan chocolates, speciality violet produce from Toulouse, and all manner of goodies.

Then, last year, she was approached by Andrew Ashenden and Simon Baynham, "two very charming directors of Howard de Walden Estates, the landlords of Marylebone", wondering if she would be interested in opening up a shop in Marylebone Village. "I said, 'Why me? Why not someone bigger?' They explained they wanted to take this area back to the way it used to be, with a real community feel and small independent shopkeepers."

Music to Michelson's ears - not least because Marylebone is her old patch.

"I know the area well because this was my family home," she says. "My mother still lives around the corner. I remember a thriving little high street, with two or three butchers, greengrocers, everything then, bit by bit, as leases were sold off, the rot set in and everything disintegrated.

The whole complexion changed into a business community, rather than a people place. And yet lots of people live here, families as well as professionals; it is a self-contained village, with leafy squares, schools and churches - one of my favourite sights is the church turning pink as the sun sets

"So, when I began to see that these guys were committed to making Marylebone somewhere lovely to go shopping again, it was a joy and relief.

I was amazed at their attitude and determination to bring in the right mix of people, help them with whatever they need, such as building work, and involve them in the whole project. It works for everybody. More people want to live around here - this is one of the new hot places for househunting - those people go to the shops and everyone is back in business."

Michelson told Howard de Walden she would be interested, on the condition she could choose her site - "I knew exactly the spot I wanted" - and also have a say in who else would be coming into the area, foodwise. "For this to work, you must get on with everyone and be part of the whole thing. I wanted to be alongside like-minded people who would go that extra mile to bring in good food." Almost immediately, she began working with Howard de Walden to lure a good butcher. The Ginger Pig, who rear rare-breed pigs such as Gloucester Old Spot and Tamworth, along with North of England black-faced sheep, Swaledale sheep and English Longhorn cattle at Grange Farm in the little village of Levisham in Yorkshire, said yes - to her delight; opening up a light, airy shop with traiteur-style dishes bubbling on the kitchen range, and a huge, walk-in cold room where whole sides of meat hang.

Currently, they are searching for a like-minded greengrocer to join them.

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