Latest news with #Osip
Times
4 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.
Telegraph
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Osip, Bruton: ‘A successful tasting menu experience is like watching a brilliant piece of theatre'
If bookends were made out of pastry, I'd have an excellent matching pair. Exactly 10 years ago, when I was reviewing restaurants for another newspaper, I visited a just-opened London spot that had major buzz about its 24-year-old chef and a dish that was quickly shaping up to be the talk of the town. Portland, its young chef Merlin Labron-Johnson and the dish, a game pithivier, quickly gained a Michelin star. I loved everything about it and went often. A few years later the chef upped sticks to Bruton in Somerset and opened Osip – a restaurant with an elegant, restrained tasting menu (of the kind not everyone has the patience to enjoy). It, too, won acclaim – one Michelin star and a green star – and a loyal following. Now, a decade on from Portland, Labron-Johnson has moved again, this time to a radically rural location in the fields outside Bruton, for Osip 2.0. And there's a pithivier (domed puff-pastry pie) on the menu. The new Osip is tricky to find on a dour Friday in February, but aim for the staggeringly beautiful National Trust properties of Stourhead and Alfred's Tower and it's the western point of a skinny triangle it forms. Its fresh white-painted exterior and austere signage let you know you're not in a standard country 'gastropub'. Inside, past the leather curtain at the door created by local interiors star Bill Amberg, a bar/sitting room awaits, with wood-burning stove and a menu of English ciders, aperitifs and sparkling wines. On hand is Felicity, a sparky and charming host whose knowledge of the menu is matched by her intel on the starry locals (Bruton has quite a few these days). After a dazzlingly fresh trout and apple roll and earthy mushroom and hazelnut cookie snack (they are far more chic than that billing), we're walked through to the dining room – although it is less a room than one side of a space, on the other side of which is a pristine, hi-tech kitchen and vast glass wall looking out across the fields. Labron-Johnson has found his perfect digs, where all of the produce for his seasonal tasting menu is within a few miles and where expensive craftsmanship shows in everything from the art to the hobs to the tablecloths, and even a timeless but somehow very modish playlist. And oh the food. Much of it is served on white clay plinths, which might look like affectation if the dishes weren't so accomplished. Celeriac soup with shiitake marmalade and winter truffle was a blissful thing more substantial and rich than its description; a beetroot taco with fallow deer, smoked quince and grilled radicchio was a ruby-hued delight; and lobster over charcoal (there's a grill in the garden, of course) with salted egg yolk and sorrel was a flavour explosion of the best kind. The new iteration of the pithivier is borne on a silver salver, garlanded in spruce and pine cones. It contains Devon Gold chicken and Périgord truffles with a sauce made with Banyuls Grand Cru. Oof. A dream to look at, and to eat. When I catch up with Labron-Johnson after service (over an insanely moreish pistachio and nori macaron), we discuss the evolution of the pie, and of his ambition. The pride with which he describes the farm on which the produce is grown, and his love of a hard-carved counter for diners who want to be even closer to the chefs, is palpable, but I sense it's been a tough journey. He deserves the reward of more acclaim, more awards, more customers. To visit Osip requires an investment but it is very much worth it – and when its four bedrooms open in April, a proper treat weekend. With snacks and petits fours, we had 11 courses. For me, a really successful tasting menu experience is like watching a brilliant piece of theatre – something to be savoured and admired, something you've put time (and money) aside for. So if you think occasionally whiling away three hours being looked after delightfully in a chic restaurant, having a procession of creative and beautiful dishes brought to you, takes too long and is not filling enough, may I direct you to the nearest McDonald's?
The Guardian
11-02-2025
- General
- The Guardian
What's the best way to make dull green cabbage taste interesting?
I often find green cabbage boring. How can I make it more interesting?The cabbage family is vast and, just like most families, its members differ hugely in shape and size, from long and pointed to rotund with solid hearts. What the green members all have in common, however, is their receptiveness to multiple situations, from braising to layering into lasagne, which is good news for those who think they're a bit dull. Merlin Labron-Johnson, chef/owner of Osip and The Old Pharmacy, both in Bruton, Somerset, is no such person, though: 'Cabbages are much more versatile than people give them credit for,' he says, 'but you do need to apply a bit of imagination.' That might mean blanching the leaves, stuffing them with sausagemeat – 'sometimes, I add pistachios, too' – then rolling and braising in the oven. 'That's an interesting way to use up a savoy cabbage.' He suggests serving these cabbage parcels with some pumpkin puree. Alternatively, put hispi in a pot roast: halve the cabbage and lay it cut side down in a hot pan with lots of oil, to get some nice caramelisation. 'Finish it in the oven, then carve and dress with chopped herbs, toasted nuts [almonds or hazelnuts, say] or pine nuts, perhaps a few raisins, and a bit of vinegar and olive oil.' Chef Daniel Watkins, meanwhile, would be inclined to fire up the barbecue – even in winter. 'It's my favourite way to bring out the best in all sorts of ingredients,' says the man behind the menu at Holy Carrot in London, which is why you'll find him outside by the barbecue year-round. 'I like to grill hispi cabbage over an open flame and, once it's beautifully charred, brush with a blend of butter [plant-based, for preference] and miso, or a rich XO sauce, which adds a deep, umami kick.' And if you're up for a project, he suggests sauerkraut, for which shredded cabbage and salt are roughed up and packed into a sterilised jar. Once fermented, Watkins recommends frying the kraut until crisp, then folding it through some velvety potato puree. Or take a leaf out of Nigel Slater's book and combine sauerkraut, softened onions, chopped parsley and walnuts, wholegrain mustard, grated fontina and some seasoning, then pile on to pastry to make a savoury galette. Labron-Johnson grows a ton of cabbage on his farm, and at this time of year especially his attention turns to soup, and more often than not that perennial winter favourite, ribollita. 'Start with a base of chopped vegetables [onion, carrot, celery, garlic] and maybe some pancetta, lardo or bacon, add cooked white beans and a bit of broth, then finish with the cabbage and lots of olive oil,' he says. You could, of course, also add some bread: 'That's a full meal, and it's not boring at all!' The Guardian's own Italian food expert Rachel Roddy also has a cabbage soup up her sleeve to 'win over sceptics'. Warm olive oil and butter in a pan, then add sliced savoy and onion, minced garlic and a couple of bay leaves. Once the cabbage has collapsed 'completely', break it up with a fork, pour in water, add salt and a parmesan rind, then simmer for 15 minutes. Next, tip in some carnaroli rice and simmer again for 20 minutes. Finish with grated parmesan and black pepper, and Bob's your uncle. Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What's the best way to make dull green cabbage taste interesting?
I often find green cabbage boring. How can I make it more interesting?The cabbage family is vast and, just like most families, its members differ hugely in shape and size, from long and pointed to rotund with solid hearts. What the green members all have in common, however, is their receptiveness to multiple situations, from braising to layering into lasagne, which is good news for those who think they're a bit dull. Merlin Labron-Johnson, chef/owner of Osip and The Old Pharmacy, both in Bruton, Somerset, is no such person, though: 'Cabbages are much more versatile than people give them credit for,' he says, 'but you do need to apply a bit of imagination.' That might mean blanching the leaves, stuffing them with sausagemeat – 'sometimes, I add pistachios, too' – then rolling and braising in the oven. 'That's an interesting way to use up a savoy cabbage.' He suggests serving these cabbage parcels with some pumpkin puree. Alternatively, put hispi in a pot roast: halve the cabbage and lay it cut side down in a hot pan with lots of oil, to get some nice caramelisation. 'Finish it in the oven, then carve and dress with chopped herbs, toasted nuts [almonds or hazelnuts, say] or pine nuts, perhaps a few raisins, and a bit of vinegar and olive oil.' Chef Daniel Watkins, meanwhile, would be inclined to fire up the barbecue – even in winter. 'It's my favourite way to bring out the best in all sorts of ingredients,' says the man behind the menu at Holy Carrot in London, which is why you'll find him outside by the barbecue year-round. 'I like to grill hispi cabbage over an open flame and, once it's beautifully charred, brush with a blend of butter [plant-based, for preference] and miso, or a rich XO sauce, which adds a deep, umami kick.' And if you're up for a project, he suggests sauerkraut, for which shredded cabbage and salt are roughed up and packed into a sterilised jar. Once fermented, Watkins recommends frying the kraut until crisp, then folding it through some velvety potato puree. Or take a leaf out of Nigel Slater's book and combine sauerkraut, softened onions, chopped parsley and walnuts, wholegrain mustard, grated fontina and some seasoning, then pile on to pastry to make a savoury galette. Labron-Johnson grows a ton of cabbage on his farm, and at this time of year especially his attention turns to soup, and more often than not that perennial winter favourite, ribollita. 'Start with a base of chopped vegetables [onion, carrot, celery, garlic] and maybe some pancetta, lardo or bacon, add cooked white beans and a bit of broth, then finish with the cabbage and lots of olive oil,' he says. You could, of course, also add some bread: 'That's a full meal, and it's not boring at all!' The Guardian's own Italian food expert Rachel Roddy also has a cabbage soup up her sleeve to 'win over sceptics'. Warm olive oil and butter in a pan, then add sliced savoy and onion, minced garlic and a couple of bay leaves. Once the cabbage has collapsed 'completely', break it up with a fork, pour in water, add salt and a parmesan rind, then simmer for 15 minutes. Next, tip in some carnaroli rice and simmer again for 20 minutes. Finish with grated parmesan and black pepper, and Bob's your uncle. Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@
