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Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Osip hotel review: a cool restaurant with rooms in bucolic Somerset
The field-to-plate restaurant Osip was one of the star attractions of super-trendy Bruton until last August when it decamped to the nearby low-key village of South Brewham so that the chef and owner Merlin Labron-Johnson could reinvent a traditional 17th-century coaching inn as a minimalist temple to ethical gastronomy. Labron-Johnson's imaginative and thoughtful cooking has won him numerous awards, including a Michelin star, a green Michelin star and The Good Food Guide's Restaurant of the Year for 2025, as well as legions of high-profile fans, so dinner might come with a side order of celebrity, with anyone from former chancellor George Osborne to the fashion designer Stella McCartney at the next table. Like us civilians, they're here for the culinary love letter to the local landscape, with 90 per cent of the produce grown organically on the restaurant's farm or sourced from within a five-mile radius. Now Labron-Johnson has added the ultimate petits fours to his inventive menu: a quartet of small but perfectly formed bedrooms for those who don't want their evening to end. Score 8/10In its former incarnation as the Bull, there were seven bedrooms above the pub, all low-ceilinged and poky. Labron-Johnson has knocked them through, creating four larger rooms that are airy and light-filled. Their style is minimalism at its most beguiling, all milky tones and full of natural goodness. There are exposed beams, beds with eye-catching live-edge English oak headboards (that follow the shape of the tree's natural contours) and chunky bedside tables, made from stumps of trees felled within a ten-mile radius. Handmade jute rugs, wicker baskets, vases with sprays of wildflowers and botanical artworks add texture. Avon and Brue have freestanding bathtubs, Somer and Pitt have only smart showers and all have sweet-smelling Maison Osip toiletries that use British plants and herbs with formulations that change with the seasons. There are no TVs or minibars and, as Labron-Johnson expects guests to stay only one night, storage space is as minimal as the decor. You do get freshly baked canelé pastries though, with a wondrous caramelised crust and gooey custard centre, rosy apples and homemade cider to whet your appetite for the gastronomic treat to come. • Somerset's most luxurious hotels Score 9/10Evenings start with snacks beside the inglenook fireplace in the stripped-back sitting room where the squishy sofas add cosiness to the white and wood moodboard. Ask for a table in the main dining room, which now has a spectacular glass-box kitchen bolted on to it. From here, Labron-Johnson calmly directs his team of young chefs, watched by diners on one side and on the other by curious cows in the field beyond Osip's wildflower garden. The ten-course tasting menu is obligatory, with enthusiastic waiters delivering a story with each course. Standout dishes included the lovage broth, a heavenly blast of summer sunshine, accompanied by a moreish fermented potato brioche and cultured butter topped with a dehydrated nettle. Meat tends to play second fiddle to vegetables but when it does put in an appearance it's wickedly good, such as the satisfyingly rich pork, deftly countered by the grassiness of yet more nettles (grilled this time) and asparagus. The rocket sorbet manages the same clever balancing act, being both bitter and sweet while the chocolate and apricot macaron is a full-on fudgy sugar high. • More great restaurants with rooms In contrast to the incredible dinners, breakfasts are more pared-back affairs. Forget any thoughts of a fry-up — there's homemade granola, fruit and yoghurt, ham, cheese, butter and sourdough bread (but no toast), with boiled eggs the only cooked option. It's a bit too minimalist. There are complimentary transfers for guests who travel by train to Bruton or Castle Cary and you can take a tour of Dreamers Farm, a short drive from the restaurant, to check out the produce that will be on your plate later. • UK's best pubs with rooms Score 9/10South Brewham is a roses-round-the-door rustic idyll, sitting at the foot of a pine forest and surrounded by rolling hills. The romantic Palladian mansion and parklands of the Stourhead estate is a few minutes up the road, while Bruton is ten minutes in a car. It is home to a Hauser & Wirth art gallery, independent shops including Smouk, which sells stylish homeware, and several pubs and places to eat, including the Old Pharmacy, Labron-Johnson's more affordable bistro where you can get octopus with Jersey royal potatoes and aïoli for £15. Price B&B doubles from £240Restaurant tasting menu £125Accessible NDog-friendly NFamily-friendly N Susan d'Arcy was a guest of Osip (
Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Just One Dish: Merlin Labron-Johnson
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.
