Osip

It’s fair to say, Osip is not your average neighbourhood restaurant in this part of the world. You wouldn’t guess from the modest frontage but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes - Osip is a true farm-to-table event, with produce coming largely from the farm and kitchen garden, as well as via local suppliers. 

The dining room is equally humble, but like Labron-Johnson’s cooking it highlights beauty in simplicity. A pale green leather banquette hugs one wall, contrasting against whitewashed brick and a flash of original stonework. Dried flowers hang from the walls, alongside a shelf that shows off a handful of influential cookbooks. There are white tablecloths, and crisp, white-shirted servers too, but everything is relaxed. Front-of-house manage the room with ease - never intrusive, but always on hand. 

We proceed through eight courses of outstanding food - the sort where recency bias takes hold and each dish becomes your new favourite. A Jerusalem artichoke snack - steamed then fried in tempura batter, dusted in togarashi and served on a splodge of black garlic - is unique and eye-widening. It only gets better from there: creamy white onion royale with morels and vin jaune has a comforting Gallic richness to it, but interspersed with rich courses are lighter ones, like a taco of spring vegetables and mole verde, or young leeks with almond and ricotta. 

We found a dessert of herb ice cream with Italian meringue to be a little on the bitter side for our tastes, but we respect the originality of the concept and sometimes, you want a restaurant to challenge your expectations. That’s part and parcel of Osip - the blind tasting menu means you put yourself in the hands of Labron-Johnson and team and on this evidence, there aren’t many places we’d rather be.

Located in the Somerset village of Bruton, Osip is a Michelin-starred restaurant owned and run by Merlin Labron-Johnson, who brings impossibly beautiful, hyper-seasonal British tasting menus using locally grown and reared produce to an idyllic rural spot. Having previously been in a tiny location in Bruton the restaurant has now moved to larger pastures with a new restaurant located in a 16th century inn just outside of the village.

In this new location, the restaurant builds on its already established commitment to supporting sustainable and local produce as almost all ingredients are sourced from two local farms and orchards. The new building also features four bedrooms allowing guests to add an overnight stay to their dining experience. Guests can expect understated and simple interiors that are typical of Labron-Johnson’s restaurants with the historic nature of this building creating a characterful and charming feel.

Serving a refined line-up of farm-to-table food, the restaurant grows much of its own produce with guests being promised a different experience with every visit that is in tune with the peaks of troughs of the weather and seasons. Osip has also taken the decision to make the tasting menus completely blind - you leave yourself in the hands of Labron-Johnson and his expert kitchen team here (though you get a lovely, printed menu to take away with you afterward).

That said, you can expect dishes like a delicate herb broth served with farm vegetable crudites and tempura potato, salted egg yolk with chives and broad beans, and smoked whey sauce. Another dish featured is comprised of a potato brioche brushed with lamb fat, whipped butter, and a cured lamb heart. Guests can also expect a cheese course which will consist of a fruit toast topped with melted Tunworth cheese, finished with honey and truffle, and followed by a melon and cucumber sorbet.

The drinks menu is similarly focused and reflects the commitment to responsible dining with a list of bottles sourced from small-scale and sustainable growers. The restaurant will also serve their annual Osip Cider, a barrel-aged cider that they make in collaboration with Pilton cider. Like the rest of the menu, the drinks selection changes regularly.