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The Dysart Petersham

The Dysart Petersham is a beautiful and characterful building, drawing on principles of handcrafting from the age of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the beauty of which is matched appropriately by its open views over Richmond Park and by its village, woodland and meadow setting. 

The Dysart has a long history as a public house and Inn, for some 300 years, starting life as a simple Georgian farmhouse. The Georgian buildings were knocked down at the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth centuries and replaced by this grand statement, Arts and Crafts building, designed by a Suffolk-based Arts and Crafts architect, whose initials are still to be found carved in the ornamental oak carvings of one of the great gable windows on the South face.

It reopened in about 1904 and has remained in continuous use, welcoming the public for refreshments for drinks and food, for afternoon and evening dances and hosting one of the first gathering places for American servicemen and women, billeted in Richmond Park in WWII, introducing locally American cocktails. It was popular for a long period for French cooking by the French couple who ran it. In the mid-nineties, it became a destination for drinks and food and given a dark, nightclub’ feel.

After a period, in 2007 it was refurbished and, as much as possible after years of intervention inside in particular, it had its original interior features painstakingly restored, creating once more an airy place filled with light and sun, through the huge original windows and revealing once more the craftsmanship, quality and beauty of the woods used in the building.

The bar was taken back to its original, glowing oak, taken from decommissioned, captured warships from the period of the Napoleonic wars.

Tradition, respect for the building and its natural welcome are important to us.

Approach Of The Team

Who could not be inspired by this building, its long history going back to Georgian times and probably earlier, its location, the importance of quality and hand crafting and its direct connection with nature? 

Family owned and run, the family values are reflected in the building and shared unstintingly by the lead team of Managing Director, Barny Taylor, and Head Chef, Kenneth Culhane, inspiring the team as a whole,  guiding all we do: 

  • the importance for the enrichment of life of welcome in beautiful and comfortable surroundings
  • the contribution, provided with passion, of good drinks, good food and welcome to wellbeing, 
  • belief in the value and wisdom of traditions, moderation and connection with nature
  • commitment to quality and the passion involved in all we serve, drinks, ingredients, traditional husbandry and responsible sourcing 
  • as a constant reminder, as we observe change around us, of the increasing need, understood so naturally in earlier years more closely connected with nature, for ethical treatment and welfare of animals, thoughtful and natural cultivation of plants, and the wise, thoughtful use of resources, including the land on which we and all life  depend 
  • in our understanding of the way in which our beautiful surroundings in this country village half an hour from Mayfair and the always beautiful changes it sees through the seasons should be reflected in everything we do
  • our commitment to the role of beauty, quality and warm welcome in enriching life and wellbeing.

One of our recitalists, over a glass of wine after the recital,  mentioned some words of Henry Miller:

“Art teaches nothing, except the significance of life.  Art is only a means to life, to the life more abundant”

This sums up all we hope to contribute  across all the arts at our disposal, drinks chosen for their quality, special characters and the dedication with which they are made, ingredients, food, paintings, environment, beauty on the plate, reflection of nature, with the aid of conviviality, good company and conversation, pleasure for all the senses to enrich life.

In 2019 The Dysart Petersham received the award of a Michelin Star

Immensely pleased, this reinforced the team’s commitment to these values and standards, with an increased sense of responsibility and drawing strength from widespread support gained over the years and congratulations on the award. Read more here.

Barny and Kenneth, after celebrating,  simply looked forward to the continuing pleasure of giving pleasure.

The Dysart Petersham

THE UK AND IRELAND ASSOCIATION OF JEUNES RESTAURATEURS D’EUROPE

The Dysart Petersham

Barny and Kenneth were invited to join Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe, founded in 1974, in establishing an UK and Ireland Association within the European JRE.

This was launched by the then JRE International  President, 2 Michelin Starred Chef, Ernesto Iaccarino at a press conference in the Royal Academy, which also launched the English translation of Andreas Döllerer’s book, ‘Cuisine Alpine’; all about life, place, commitment and their relationship with hospitality, all  our core values.

The World Gourmet Society has held a number of gatherings and dinners hosted by Barny and Kenneth here at The Dysart Petersham and the pleasures and quality of these, along with the growing understanding of our shared ideals, prompted this invitation.

Membership of JRE includes some of the most respected chefs and restaurateurs across Europe.

JRE’s international statement of ideals is simply summarised as:

a ‘Never-Ending Passion’ for innovation, imagination, inspiration, love and care for food and where it comes from, sustainability, biodiversity, honour to cultural heritage through modern food preparation, eating well, sustainably and healthily, creating dreams, emotions and a sense of magic, in essence bringing passion to the enjoyment of life and joy to guests.

It could not be closer to our approach.

PURITY – TASTE – TOUCH – SMELL – SIGHT TRADITIONAL CRAFT – PASSION – SKILL

Natural, intense and beautiful flavours, aromas, colours – pleasure to the eye. A lineage of ingredients and cooking methods stretching back over the centuries. Triggers to conjure old memories.
Read About our approach

Inside The Dysart Petersham

The Dysart Petersham is an Arts and Crafts building from 1904 which used only the highest quality of building materials, with a wealth of beautiful woods and a passion for hand craftsmanship, as a reaction against the industrial revolution and standardisation, at high volumes, from factories and distancing from nature as people moved, more and more, into ever-growing urban areas. 

The architect who designed it, his initials carved proudly into one of the richly carved oak gables, had spent a lifetime studying mediaeval timber-framed buildings in Suffolk and Norfolk and restoring some famous ones, notably the Guildhall in Lavenham. 

We set about returning to The Dysart to emphasise as many of the original features as possible, particularly the wonderful woods, inside and out, and with a simplicity of decoration to let the original detail speak for itself.

In so many ways the Arts and Crafts movement enshrined the values we have just described and our appreciation of character, individual craftsmanship, fine materials, harmony in composition, and foundation on tradition, reflected in our choice of beers, wines, soft drinks, ingredients, suppliers, furniture and art.

The oak bar was not original – it had been made from church pews, themselves in the high Victorian gothic style. It nearly went in the restoration. 

 

 

We discovered it had been bought in the 1850s for a then-new church from decommissioned Napoleonic warships and our imagination went into overdrive.

We retained, simplified and restored it, with a craftsman joiner, reusing all the original and individual joints carefully numbered when it was taken apart. The oak now glows and sings, just right in a building so richly endowed with oak, restored by hand in line with Arts and Crafts principles.

The main rooms face south over Richmond Park, with radiant views and are in turn radiant with sun and patterned reflections of the lavish greenery outside through the leaded glass. On the colder days of the year we have a large log-burning stove, DEFRA approved.

At every opportunity nature and our surroundings are brought into The Dysart Petersham, dressing it simply and naturally, using as many as possible of our own flowers, cultivated and wild, combining them with the changing foliage around us, from the first Spring buds, blossoms and vibrant green leaves, through the abundance of late Spring and Summer, the richness of Autumn to the marvellously structural bare twigs and branches of Winter. 

These are created with the essential beauty of the building in mind, with a thought for the importance of a harmonious relationship between the building, garden and surroundings. We replanted and nurtured the garden at the front which has done so much to anchor the building happily in the village scene.

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OUTSIDE

We replanted the garden to provide a fitting setting for this handsome Arts and Crafts building, with its oak beams and decorative carvings, blending it naturally into the village and the landscape of Richmond Park opposite.

South-facing and sheltered, it captures the sun, with dappled shade provided by the trees. We manage it naturally, without chemicals, the only exception, our battle with the pests that try to destroy our box planting.

The garden always has something to provide, flowers and foliage, or simply the green freshness of a lovely view. There is always something of interest, from the first fresh greens and scented blossoms to the skeletal intricacy of Winter, seen directly from the open windows, or through the intricate patterns of the glass.

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WILD FLOWERS

A corner has been turned over to wild flower meadow, initially seeded and with plugs, now, as hoped, increasingly self seeded with so-called ‘weeds’.

Each year we and passers-by are rewarded with an abundance of wild flowers/weeds, including: Cornflowers, Fairy Toadflax, Tickseed, Corn Marigold, Black-eyed Susan, Red Orache, Larkspur, Shirley, Californian poppies, salad burnet, white campion, bladder campion, devil’s – bit scabious, harebell, wild marjoram, yarrow, dropwort, clustered bellflower, lady’s bedstraw, wild carrot, cowslip, meadow cranesbill, and field scabious, along with oxeye daisy. 

It does not look much in the dryness of high Summer when the grass over in the Park is burnished gold, nor in Autumn and Winter, but it is a delight to see the pleasure this planting gives to so many people, adults and children alike and to spot the first bees attracted by the flowers. It is a quiet pleasure to see parents’ stopping, showing and explaining the flowers to their children. 

We would like to thank all the people, local and visitors, who stop to look at the changing kaleidoscope of flowers and who have written or spoken to us about the pleasure they give. Many local people have said that they have been inspired by this to sow wild flowers in their own garden. 

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Surroundings

This is truly exceptional countryside in Town. Petersham remains in character a country village, in a country setting.

In front of us, there is Richmond Park, beside us there are the Petersham Woods, Common Land, rising to the top of Richmond Hill.

Behind us, there are the water meadows, with cows grazing in the Summer, meadows where horses graze all year round and the great bend in the River Thames, leading to the Carolean avenues of Ham House and the wild flower haven of the Ham Lands. We are surrounded by old and beautiful trees, in all directions. The oak trees, gracious, young, old and ancient are particularly to be enjoyed, such symbols of survival and determination against all odds.

The planting of the avenue of elm trees in the Park, leading directly to us has been a great success, emphasising distance, spaciousness, vistas.

It is still possible to wander through these spaces and the woods in a rural and village environment, seemingly remote even these days from Town and suburbs, though we are only 30 minutes away from Mayfair.

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Walks

ecause of this special place, there are many calm and beautiful walks through Richmond Park and Petersham and along the River Thames, which seem as though they are part of a different world. These walks are full of wonder and inspiring in all seasons, all weathers.

The view of the Dysart Petersham down from the top of the hill in the Park, whether through the frost-encrusted branches of Trevor Aston’s photograph of The Dysart Petersham in the depths of frosty Winter (Click here to see this photograph), or in the high Summer photograph here, shows the breadth and scale of this beautiful landscape, with its ancient village church, itself unique.

The Dysart Petersham

NEWS & EVENTS

The Dysart Petersham

Isole e Olena Wine Dinner – Thursday 17th September

Isole e Olena – Tuscany Thursday 17th September, for 7:00pm for 7:30pm with Lorenzo Tonelli – Isole e OlenaKenneth Culhane – Head Chef Barny Taylor – Managing Director Join us for an …

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The Dysart Petersham

Next Classical Recital

Find out more details on our quarterly Sunday and Monday Classical Recitals.

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RESTAURANT AND SHOP VOUCHERS

GIFT VOUCHERS

It is our pleasure to prepare bespoke vouchers for The Dysart Petersham.
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Gift Vouchers
The Dysart continues to be one of my absolutely favourite restaurants in London. Ingredients are impeccable, the kitchen technique is top notch and things are made the old-fashioned way, with stocks and sauces laboriously reduced rather than being poured out of a bought-in bottle from a company, as seems to be increasingly the case even in multi-starred London venues. The Dysart is the real deal.
Andy Hayler's Restaurant Guide
Andy Hayler's Restaurant Guide
A gorgeous Arts and Crafts building houses this warm, homely restaurant on the edge of Richmond Park. There's a natural ethos running throughout the highly seasonal cooking, which is best appreciated with the full tasting menu. Impeccably sourced ingredients and strong classical technique underpin assured, satisfying dishes where the boldly flavoured sauces are a highlight – be it honey and verjus with John Dory or a glossy sake sauce with Creedy Carver Duck. The warm, passionate service leaves no detail overlooked, and there are quarterly classical music recitals too.
MICHELIN GUIDE
MICHELIN Guide
The sense of restraint signals an alternative to the louder rhythms of London’s dining scene. Here, the narrative is not crafted from dramatic tableside flourishes, but from the confidence of a kitchen content to let its work be quietly persuasive. There is a thoughtfulness that permeates each element, from the harmonious construction of the courses to the unforced pacing of the meal as a whole. For those with a particular appreciation for nuance, The Dysart Petersham offers a dining experience where every plate is an articulation of both philosophy and craft.
FINE DINING LOVERS
FINE DINING LOVERS by S Pellegrino
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