Petersham Nurseries, Richmond

Bag, Marc Jacobs Wellington

Petersham Nurseries Café

Image shot for and courtesy of Editer.com

Image shot for and courtesy of Editer.com

Image shot for and courtesy of Editer.com

Image shot for and courtesy of Editer.com

Baby beetroot with barrel-aged feta salad by Chef Greg Malouf – Recipe & more info available at Editer.com

 Petersham Nurseries, Church Lane, Off Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 7AG

Since all eyes & ears are on Federer’s back-hand and Serena’s grunts in Wimbledon I thought I’d share another compelling destination in a similar area: Petersham Nurseries in Richmond, which is just 6 miles (or 20 mins car-ride) from the courts. Mind, I live in North-East London and this this as South, and West as it gets without dropping off the map – the journey’s over an hour on the tube and my mind leaked out around about Willesden Junction… so when I finally got there my mood was down to a silent-growl (nevermind the screams of seat-pattern embedded buttcheeks). Of course, the tendency of my mood is like that of a Pomeranian, and shall we say Petersham Nurseries was a beef jerky wrapped in a sock. The place was a breath of fresh air – literally – with roses, ferns, foxgloves, jasmine and hydrangea that were exhaling scents while the red dirt floor smelled of of fresh rain (the weather was trying to be nice, as Sophie cleverly put it). We met the star chef Greg Malouf as he demonstrated how to make Baby beetrood with barrel-aged feta salad at the cafe, then I wandered off to explore their home-ware & antiques shop while the taxi never came. I mean, it did come in the end, with much coercion and one too many threat calls (think an episode of 24),  but it did give me time to pick out exactly what I wanted to get the next time I braved a trip down again. I’ll just need to bring a truck and lottery money, that’s all.

Edit: Just realised they take orders online/over the phone too but I’ll pretend not to have seen that.