A 15-minute walk from the All England Lawn Tennis Club where the championships take place, neighbourhood French restaurant The White Onion is currently running a special Wimbledon menu. Dishes on the menu cooked by chef Frederic Duval include avocado and cucumber gazpacho, and Cornish cod fillet with black rice, aubergine and lobster roulade, smoked tomatoes and lobster sauce. Finish with a summery dessert of strawberry profiteroles, Kent strawberry salad and strawberry and mint sorbet.
Close to Richmond Park, East Sheen pub The Victoria boasts a lovely walled garden and a light-flooded conservatory dining room. The menu is crammed with British pub favourites, seasonal salads and rustic French classics like cassoulet but non meat-eaters should time a visit for Vegetarian Mondays when vegetarian food is served all day. Start with roasted carrot and ginger hummus, root vegetable slaw and toasted pitta before the spiced butternut, pepper and apricot tagine, three-grain couscous and smashed avocado.
At Richmond bistro La Buvette, chef Buck Carter serves comforting French and Mediterranean food with wide appeal. If you’re not tempted by the Provençal fish soup or steak-frites, head to the covered courtyard where cushions and blankets are provided for the ‘served outside only’ cheese fondues - a melting mountain of Emmental, Comté and Gruyère with kirsch - with charcuterie, a green salad and sourdough croûtons.
Dating from the Georgian period, The Bingham hotel overlooks the Thames and both the gardens and the restaurant offer splendid views of the river. It all makes for an impressive setting for Andrew Cole’s elegantly presented seasonal dishes. A typical summer meal during the Wimbledon fortnight might kick off with confit lamb neck, bulgur wheat, courgette puree, tomato petals and mint and continue with halibut, Jersey royals, confit fennel, orange and fennel veloute. To finish, try the marinated peaches, lemon verbena pannacotta, white peach sorbet and black pepper filo.
Painter JMW Turner immortalised the water meadows leading to the dramatic bend in the Thames and the same famous view can be enjoyed from the dining room at The Petersham, an urban country house hotel with a formidable reputation for modern British dishes. The set lunch and dinner menus are great value and choices might include poultry and prune terrine with black cherry jelly and sourdough toast followed by the fish of the day teamed with butterbeans, courgette, peas, tomato broth and Provence herbs. What better way to finish during Wimbledon than with a strawberry Eton mess with vanilla Chantilly cream and meringue?
Overlooking Richmond Park, the Edwardian-built Dysart has a delightfully tranquil terrace gazing across wild flowers and, if you’re lucky, even a resident guitarist playing on the lawn. It all makes for a delightful spot to sip a cocktail and order from Kenneth Culhane’s inventive modern British menu which includes Orkney scallop sashimi with radish, fennel and seaweed dressing, perhaps followed by ricotta and herb lasagna, Norfolk asparagus, peas and broad beans, parsley velouté.
In the shadow of Richmond Bridge, A Cena has been a Twickenham fixture for more than a decade and it continues to deliver finely-tuned regional Italian classics. The £10 ‘Express’ lunch menu is a steal and might feature spaghetti with ricotta, lemon, rocket, basil and Parmesan or grilled polenta with portobello mushrooms, butter, rosemary and Parmesan.
Set within a glasshouse packed with antique furniture and heady with the fragrance of jasmine and bougainvillea, the rustic and casual Petersham Nurseries Cafe serves seasonal, Italian-influenced food in the heart of Richmond. Dishes on the summer menu might include Portland crab bruschetta with marjoram and Amalfi lemon, followed by spiced chickpeas and chargrilled courgette with chilli, feta and mint.
