Wimbledon runs from 29 June to 12 July 2026. The tennis looks much as it did a hundred years ago. The lunch does not. Here is the then and now, course by course, and what it tells you about how we eat today.
Wimbledon has always eaten with the times. The grass, the whites, and the strawberries stay put. Everything else on the plate moves with the century. Put a 1920s members’ luncheon next to the menu Wimbledon launched for 2026, and you get a tidy little history of British taste, told in food.
So let us set two tables side by side. One for Lord Grantham. One for this summer. The afters here are simple: by the end, you will read any “new” menu the way a food historian does, and you will have a few ideas for your own table.
If you want the full social history of the early years first, I covered it in Wimbledon Food in the Downton Abbey Era (1912-1930).
This piece is the head-to-head.
First, who is cooking
Then: Armies of specialized staff. Sauce chefs, pastry cooks, and wine stewards served four-course luncheons to members on fine china, with the same liveried service the aristocracy expected at home.
Now: One executive chef, Sam Morgan, leading a brigade of nearly 350 cooks across everything from the public restaurants to the Royal Box. The grandeur moved from the dining room to the supply chain. The flex is no longer the footman behind your chair. It is the name of the farm on the menu.
The strawberry: the one thing that never changed
Then: Strawberries and cream arrived as part of an elaborate dessert course, the sweet finish to a heavy meal.
Now: A bowl still costs £2.85, about four dollars. The berries come from Hugh Lowe Farms in Kent, picked by hand each morning. There is even a plant-based cream now for those who skip dairy.
A hundred years apart, and the strawberry is the constant. That is the whole point. Every era keeps the one dish everyone came for and reinvents the rest around it.
The showpiece: from Dover sole to a spicy prawn
Then: The grand luncheon leaned on Dover sole with hollandaise and roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. Rich, formal, and built to show off.
Now: The showpiece is a shellfish platter at The Wingfield Cafe, and grilled crevettes with British nduja butter sauce. Crevettes are large prawns, what we call jumbo shrimp. Nduja (say “en-DOO-yah”) is a soft, spicy Italian salami melted into butter.
Same instinct, different accent. Both menus pick seafood to impress. The Edwardians smothered theirs in a French sauce. We reach for a spicy Italian one. The kitchen still wants to dazzle. It just speaks a more well-travelled language now.
The game course: from roast joint to venison tartare
Then: Game and a roast joint anchored the savoury courses, carved and served hot.
Now: Venison tartare at the Centenary Brasserie, the meat served raw and dressed rather than roasted. The venison is wild, sourced from the Royal Parks under a sustainability arrangement.
The Crawleys would have recognized the venison and been baffled by the tartare. Cooking it through was a sign of a proper kitchen in their day. Serving it raw and local is the sign of one now.
The chicken: from plain roast to vadouvan spice
Then: Roast chicken, plainly done, was the safe centre of a respectable table.
Now: Sutton Hoo chicken with vadouvan spice. Sutton Hoo is a heritage free-range breed. Vadouvan is a gentle, slightly sweet French take on a curry blend.
This is the clearest sign of the century between them. The Empire brought spice into British kitchens slowly and often timidly. Today a curry-spiced chicken sits on the Wimbledon menu with no apology at all. The British table finally caught up to the British pantry.
Thrift: rationing then, sustainability now
Then: The Great War forced resourcefulness on Wimbledon. Sugar rationing pushed cooks toward honey and preserves to keep the strawberries sweet. Waste was not an option.
Now: Surplus strawberries from Hugh Lowe Farms are turned into a house-made hot sauce, served with the fried chicken in the Walled Garden. Nothing wasted.
Same value, different reason. One generation saved food because it was scarce. Ours does it because waste is the thing we are now ashamed of. The Edwardian kitchen would have understood the hot sauce perfectly, even if the chili would have startled them.
Set your own then-and-now table
You do not need a debenture ticket to taste the contrast. Here is how to put both centuries on one table.
The Edwardian side is easy. Strawberries and cream, cucumber sandwiches, and scones do the work. My Strawberry Pimm’s Scones and Eton Mess carry the sweet course.
For the 2026 side, three quick swaps catch the spirit. Halve strawberries and toss them with a splash of vinegar and a pinch of sugar for a modern savoury bowl. Mash a little nduja or harissa into soft butter and melt it over grilled shrimp. Rub chicken thighs with mild curry powder before roasting. Put those beside the scones and you have served a hundred years of Wimbledon in one sitting.
Wimbledon food, then and now: quick answers
What did people eat at Wimbledon in the 1920s? Four-course member luncheons with dishes like Dover sole, roast beef, and game, finished with strawberries and cream as a dessert course.
What is new on the Wimbledon menu in 2026? A British-sourced menu led by new chef Sam Morgan, with dishes such as pickled strawberries with ponzu, prawns in nduja butter, venison tartare, and Sutton Hoo chicken with vadouvan spice.
What has stayed the same? Strawberries and cream, now £2.85 a bowl, picked by hand each morning.
When is Wimbledon 2026? 29 June to 12 July 2026.
A final thought
A hundred years of Wimbledon menus tell the same story as a hundred years of Britain. The country kept its manners and its strawberries and changed almost everything else on the plate. That is not a loss of tradition. It is how a tradition stays alive. Keep the strawberry, welcome the spice, and you are eating in good company across the whole century.
If you set a then-and-now table this fortnight, I would love to see it. Pass this along to the Downton fan who watches Wimbledon with a plate in their lap.
Publishing notes (not for the post body)
Suggested slug: wimbledon-edwardian-vs-2026-menu
SEO title (under 60 char): Wimbledon Food: What the Crawleys Ate vs 2026
Meta description (under 155 char): A then-and-now look at Wimbledon lunches, from 1920s Edwardian luncheons to the new 2026 menu, with easy ways to set both on your own table.
Primary keyword: Wimbledon food then and now / Edwardian Wimbledon food
Secondary keywords: Wimbledon 2026 menu, what did the Crawleys eat, Wimbledon strawberries and cream history, Downton Abbey Wimbledon, Sam Morgan Wimbledon chef
Suggested tags/categories: Wimbledon, Fun Food History, Summer, Strawberries, Upstairs with the Crawleys
Internal links used: Wimbledon Food in the Downton Abbey Era (1912-1930), Strawberry Pimm’s Scones, Eton Mess. Consider also linking the Champagne Cup and Strawberries and Cream posts.
Image suggestion: A split image, a formal Edwardian place setting on one side and a modern sharing plate on the other. Alt text: “Edwardian Wimbledon luncheon compared with a modern 2026 Wimbledon dish.”
GEO note: The quick-answers block is written so AI search tools can lift clean, citable answers. Keep it as is.
Sources: The Upcoming (9 June 2026), Tempus Magazine, Country & Town House, official Wimbledon food and drink pages; Downton-era details from your own 1912-1930 post.
