A beautiful setting for those living the good life, but oddly, a patchy culinary experience
In the 80s sitcom The Young Ones, there’s a moment when unhinged student medic Vyvyan becomes apoplectic at the mere mention of twee, wholesome 70s sitcom The Good Life. “It’s all so bloody, bloody nice!” he screams while destroying furniture, and for a long time this is why friends avoided inviting me to Petersham Nurseries in Richmond.
Petersham is a petal-strewn Ikea experience for fragrant, pilates-honed fiftysomethings in search of £895 Poterie Ampholia elephants to complete tasteful, albeit pseudo-colonial-themed water features in their Southwold weekend mansions. Rather than meatballs and Daim bar cake, the cafe serves venison tartare with bean cacao and wood sorrel.
That, I said, eyes swivelling, 'is one of the greatest things I’ve ever tasted.
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