Latest opening: Osip
What: The relocation of one of South West England’s most renowned restaurants. Osip launched in 2019 within boutique hotel Number One Bruton but has now moved to much larger digs about five minutes’ drive east of the upmarket Somerset town. Set within a carefully renovated 16th century former pub that was most recently owned by hospitality company Artfarm, Osip 2.0 is being billed as a ‘complete re-imagining’ of the Michelin-starred farm-to-table concept. The small space that Osip vacated is now the more casual Briar, which is headed by former Glebe House chef Sam Lomas.
Who: Osip’s chef patron is the Devon-born Merlin Labron-Johnson. Trained in France, Belgium and Switzerland cooking classic Francophone food, his cooking CV includes the highly-rated Albert 1er in Chamonix and In De Wulf in Dranouter. Aged just 24, he worked with restaurateurs William Lander and Daniel Morgenthau to open Portland in London, which won a Michelin star nine months after opening. The move of his flagship - he also runs The Old Pharmacy in Bruton - has been partly enabled by a crowdfund but Osip also now counts Johnny Smith and Daniel Willis (two of the trio behind London’s The Clove Club and Luca) as investors who stepped in after Labron-Johnson’s original backer pulled out.
The food: The structure and the price point of Osip’s evening tasting menu has stayed roughly the same with around 15 course offered for £125 - not a bad deal at all given Labron-Johnson’s culinary chops and focus on very high quality produce (there is also a more concise lunch menu priced at £95). Probably the biggest change is that a small selection of set piece dishes are now being offered alongside the core tasting menu. All are charged for - they are essentially supplements - and in some cases replace courses on the testing menu and in other cases do not. Described by front of house as items the kitchen team has spent many years perfecting, the extras include a show-stopping game pithivier served with a powerful juniper-infused jus and a daring dish of squid stuffed with pork and white truffle. Other dishes include scallop with langoustine and pumpkin satay; polenta with roasted corn and pied de mouton; and canelé spiked with Somerset brandy. Osip’s sourcing policies haven’t changed all that much either save for the restaurant now being closer to its trio of in-house managed farms (some produce is also now grown in the grounds of the restaurant itself, including asparagus and herbs).
To drink: Osip’s wine programme is focused on small-scale sustainable growers and features some of the biggest names on the low-intervention scene. There are also a fair few locally-made spirits and ciders on offer including Osip Cider, which is made with a blend of apples that are native to Somerset.
The vibe: The building dates back to the 1600s but is not listed. This - Labron-Johnson says - has allowed him to “retain everything that was beautiful about the place and remove everything that wasn’t or didn’t work functional or structurally”. The space has been opened up to increase natural light and a modernist glass extension has been added to the rear of the site that houses part of Labron-Johnson’s sleek looking kitchen. Four letting bedrooms are expected to launch early next year.
And another thing: Labron-Johnson has big hopes for the second incarnation of his flagship. In a recent interview with Restaurant he described his team as “young and very hungry” with the “potential to do incredible things” and said that his ultimate aim was for Osip to become an “internationally recognised place that people from all over the world come and visit”. To this end, Osip is set to continue to evolve and move even closer to being fully self-sufficient by introducing it own livestock programme with its chef patron now describing himself as a “farmer first and chef second”.
25 Kingsettle Hill, Hardway, Bruton, Somerset BA10 0LN
www.osiprestaurant.com
