Australians famously do it best when it comes to brunch, which helps explain why Daisy Green Collection – Melbourne native Prue Freeman’s London restaurant chain, focused on punchy brunch classics and vibrant Asian-influenced dishes – has had such success in the capital. But dinner is the star of the show at Daisy Green’s eleventh and latest outpost Peggy Jean, an artfully revamped boat race barge on Richmond Riverside, where wood-fired pizzas are served up beneath smart Instagram-worthy decor.
“I’ve had an eye on Peggy Jean’s restoration while out on my morning walks, and the finished product is arresting, with an archway of vines and twinkly fairy lights leading towards tables under giant pink parasols,” says Stylist’s fashion and beauty features director and Richmond resident Billie Bhatia. “The crowd-pleasing menu of 10 small plates is hard to narrow down, but the summer greens in wafu dressing and chorizo croquettes made with zero-waste charcoal panko were our smash hits. We could have easily called it a day there, but the smell of the open wood-fire oven was too strong to resist. Just spicy enough to require icy margaritas on the side, the hot sausage pizza with London mozzarella and lacto-fermented jalapeno sauce was gone in a flash – as all good pizzas should be – before the Mars cheesecake finished us off with an indulgent bang. Peggy Jean is food you’ll always want to eat delivered in a very lovely setting; I’m all aboard.” The Boat, Bridge Boathouses, Riverside, Richmond TW9; daisygreenfood.com