I have long been a fan of Skye Gyngell who runs the restaurant at the Petersham Nurseries near Richmond. I dip into her two cook books more often than any other of my cookbooks and her natural and balancing way of cooking is just a delight both to cook and eat. I met Skye at the 50 Best Awards a few years ago and was so completely star struck that I could hardly speak! She must have thought that I was insane! Anyway, yesterday I was lucky enough to meet Syke again yesterday as Kathy Brown (pictured above), her daughter Suzanne and I all went to Petersham for lunch to celebrate (rather belatedly) our RHS Show success last September! Not the best day to visit London with all the G20 security and our round trip took 6 hours (about 3 hours longer than normal) but it was worth it for the lovely lunch we had. The restaurant is extrodinary - in a green house with a sandy floor - but it was a perfect setting for a relaxed lunch. We feasted on lemon marinated mozerella with Agretti, capaccio of beef with tardivo and salt cod croquettes, followed by lamb with mint salsa and borlotti beans and Sea Bass with preserved lemons. For desert, chocolate cake with devonshire cream and poached Nespole - a sharp plum like fruit. So many new tastes and flavours - we were in heaven! Just looking at the pictures is making me hungry!