In a small saucepan, combine water, sugar and lemon zest. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Once all sugar is dissolved and the mixture has come to a boil, remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and chill thoroughly.
While the syrup is chilling, prepare your strawberries. Hull each strawberry by cutting the leafy top from the fruit. Then cut your strawberries into quarters.
Once the lemon syrup is chilled, add quartered strawberries, tossing to coat. Let the strawberries sit in the refrigerator covered for 1 to 4 hours (this is known as maceration) before serving.