Just One Dish: Merlin Labron-Johnson

Times

15-05-2025

Merlin Labron-Johnson is living proof that it's not the end of the world if school isn't your forte. It's hard to imagine that this highly respected chef was once a very naughty schoolboy. But it was for this reason that he discovered a love for cooking. After bouncing from school to school, he eventually found his feet in a small alternative school in his home county of Devon. When his family couldn't afford the school meals, Merlin offered up his services. 'I used to help our school cook prepare lunches in exchange for being able to eat for free,' he says. He started off peeling potatoes and washing pots but by the end of his school career he was being trusted to cook for all the children.
After this, his first job was as an assistant chef at a nearby cooking school. It was when his grandfather suggested a cooking job at a ski resort in Switzerland that his globe-trotting career began. France followed. Then Belgium. Then an array of Michelin Star restaurants around Europe.
In 2015, he returned to the UK to open his first restaurant, Portland, in London. Within nine months, he had gained his first Michelin star — at the age of 24. After a few years of opening various successful restaurants around the capital, he headed back to Devon. It was there that Osip was born. The name was an ode to his former first name — Merlin was Osip for a good few weeks of infancy before it was demoted to the rank of middle name.
Based in a village outside Bruton, Osip is the epitome of farm-to-fork food. While guests eat their Michelin-starred meals, they can look out over the restaurant-owned farms that grow 90 per cent of their vegetables. '[I wanted] to teach myself and my team to cultivate vegetables, herbs and fruit,' Labron-Johnson explains. 'So that we could explore a cuisine that was guided by landscapes and nature and by the farm.'
One of this talented chef's favourite dishes is ricotta dumplings. 'I love this dish because it is classic Italian cooking but we make it using Somerset ingredients,' he says. Watch the video to learn how to make it yourself.
• 500g chard leaves, tough stem removed, washed and dried• 250g ricotta• 1 egg• 150g parmesan, finely grated• salt, pepper and nutmeg• 3 tbsp plain flour• 250g semolina (preferably not too fine)• 150g butter
1. Boil the chard in salted water for 4 minutes then drain and leave to cool. Squeeze out all the water and chop finely. 2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan and chard. Using a wooden spoon, beat in the egg and plain flour. Season with salt and pepper.3. Find a large tray and sprinkle half the semolina flour on the bottom. Put a little flour on your hands and roll the ricotta mixture into balls roughly the size of ping pong balls.4. Place them on the tray so that they are sitting happily side by side but not touching each other. Cover with the remainder of the semolina flour.5. Leave in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or ideally overnight.6. Bring a pan of water to a boil that is large enough to accommodate all the dumplings. Place the dumplings in the water and cook until they start to rise to the surface (about 3-4 minutes).7. While the dumplings are cooking, heat the butter in another large pan. Once it is foaming, add a few spoonfuls of the cooking water and grate in some fresh nutmeg. Turn off the heat.8. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the dumplings directly from the boiling water into the butter and toss well. Serve immediately.