Osip

Osip’s move from the centre of Bruton to nearby Hardway was long-anticipated and much-discussed. It signalled a clear intention: for this increasingly acclaimed destination restaurant to be taken as seriously as L’Enclume or Moor Hall. Now housed in a converted coach house with its own farmland and a handful of rooms, Osip finally has a home that reflects its ambition.

The rooms, it must be said, are breathtaking. Osip may offer the most beautiful overnight experience of any restaurant in Britain. Exposed timber beams stretch over double-height duplex spaces, with hand-crafted oak beds sitting on a mezzanine level. The aesthetic is warm minimalism: pale plaster walls, jute rugs, the muted tones of dried flowers. It’s as quietly luxurious as Gwyneth Paltrow in a Utah courtroom.

Still, most guests will make the journey for the food. As with the interiors, Osip’s tasting menu is both artistic and architectural: snacks arrive on sculptural plinths, and the ceramics alone could sustain a design feature. The dining room is stark but graceful - cream plaster walls, oak tables draped in linen, and a sweeping glass wall offering a view onto the kitchen garden. As rain lashes the windows, the opening courses are designed to comfort: there’s a delicate root vegetable tea, its surface flecked with black garlic oil; then a crisp parsnip, light as air, encased in tempura and dusted with togarashi.

Some dishes verge on the transcendent. A grilled maitake mushroom rests in a frothing pool of roasted yeast butter, deep and malty, concealing a sticky cep marmalade at the base. A fermented potato brioche bun is provided to unearth it. The ‘seasonal taco’ - an oft-changing menu constant - arrives as a beetroot-pink corn tortilla, layered with beetroot mole, smoked creme fraiche, and shavings of cured venison heart. Precise, balanced, and innovative, it’s Osip in two bites.

If there is a shortcoming, it lies in the atmosphere. From the two-seat chef’s table, the kitchen’s calm borders on solemnity. A main course of local lamb showcases immense skill, but its minimalism - a lone sprig of kale the only accompaniment - feels more admirable than joyful. For all it's technical brilliance, Osip can veer into austerity at times. 

Still, these are minor quibbles. Osip’s new home firmly cements its place among the country’s most accomplished restaurants - it's a space of rare precision, where every hand-thrown plate and plank of oak speaks of obsessive care. For those drawn to culinary artistry and quiet luxury, Osip remains unmissable.

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. It first set up shop in a tiny location in Bruton, but has since moved to greener, more rural pastures just outside the town in Hardway. Set in a restored 16th-century inn, Osip also boasts four bedrooms, allowing guests to add an overnight stay to their dining experience. 

In this new location, the restaurant builds on its already established commitment to supporting sustainable and local produce, sourcing almost all ingredients from Osip's nearby farm. Depending on the time of year, guests get a different experience, experiencing what the Somerset landscape can provide at each point of the year. Osip serves its 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 afterwards).

That said, dishes have previously included 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.