Looking for a bit of a break from London during the May bank holiday, we took a jaunt out to Richmond and treated ourselves to a beaut lunch at The Café at Petersham Nurseries after a tough cycle around Richmond Park.

Petersham Nurseries started life in 1970 as a local garden centre in the grounds of Petersham House (circa 1640). Gael & Francesco Boglione bought the house and the nurseries, and began extensive restoration works in 2000, which culminated in 2004 with the opening of what we know as the Petersham Nurseries of today – nurseries, a shop and a restaurant.  They enlisted the help of Australian chef Skye Gyngell (who at the time was the food editor of British Vogue) who ran the kitchen until 2011 when she gained a Michelin star for the restaurant.  Skye has since moved on to open Spring at Somerset House and Petersham Nurseries is now run by Lara Boglione (the daughter of Gael & Francesco). 

The newest addition to the team, head chef Damian Clisby (ex HIX Soho and Cotswold House after starting out at J. Sheekeys) joined in 2014. Damian has brought a new lease of life to the restaurant and, together with culinary director Lucy Boyd (who has been at Petersham Nurseries for over a decade and is the daughter of the late Rose Gray who co-founded the River Cafe) has created an experience that you could say is similar to that of The Pig, with a focus on simple food, fresh ingredients and foraging. Lucy has followed her mother’s passion for Italian food and the ever changing seasonal menu has a distinctly delicious Italian feel to it.

Petersham Nurseries is an absolutely delightful spot to visit.  We arrived by bike down a gravel path to the entrance, and walked through the nurseries to reach the greenhouses at the back.  The restaurant itself is in one of the main greenhouses, and is filled with plants and flowers, with the tables nestled in between.  The ground is of hard dirt (which does make the tables a little wobbly) but when you’re eating in a greenhouse that’s to be expected.  

We started the meal with flutes of rose petal prosecco for the girls and beers for the boys which was the perfect start to the meal and an ideal way to rehydrate after our cycle.   For the starters, the fallow deer ragu was a winner all round, and the food on the whole was faultless and beautifully presented.  One small gripe is that the bathroom isn’t actually in the restaurant and so you’ll have to deal with queues if the nursery is busy, but it gives you another opportunity to explore the grounds. 

After lunch, it’s only a short cycle from Petersham Nurseries back to the train station so don’t feel like you need to be too restrained on the alcohol (but be careful on the roads!).

Go here for: taking a break from London without having to actually leave; ladies who lunch; if you’ve always wanted to eat in a greenhouse

Menu highights: rose petal prosecco, fallow deer ragu (hopefully not from the cute deer in Richmond Park!)

Top tips: if you’re keen to make a day of it, why not take the train to Richmond and hire bikes at the station so that you can get in a bit of pre lunch exercise allowing you to work up an appetite and indulge guilt free – then it’s just a short cycle to Petersham Nurseries; the restaurant is very popular so make sure you book in advance – however, if you just turn up on the day you can have a casual lunch at The Teahouse – an Italian inspired café with coffee, cake and quiche (no bookings); Petersham Nurseries is lunch only (Tuesday  – Sunday) but they also occasionally do supper clubs which look amazing so look out for those!

Price: a couple of starters, mains for 4, cheese platter, coffee, two glasses of prosecco and a couple of beers for about £240 all in

#may2016