Osip
Bruton, Somerset
No. 7
'Absolutely delicious'; 'the tasting menu was a delight for each of the courses'; 'we loved every dish' – just some of the praise that has been heaped on Merlin Labron-Johnson’s intimate restaurant. An early adopter of farm-to-table eating, the chef and his team grow much of what ends up on your plate at two local smallholdings. The flawless cooking, offered as a series of tasting menus, celebrates both the natural perfection of fresh ingredients (a dish of kohlrabi with radishes and snow peas picked that very morning) with the amazing depth of flavour a chef with impeccable classical training and total dedication can wring from the simplest ideas (whipped sesame dip with a gleaming pool of grass-green leek oil, for example). Whether you choose the lunchtime menu du jour or go the whole nine yards at dinner, every mouthful has purpose and contributes to 'a slow crescendo of pleasure'. Meat and fish make sparse appearances, perhaps in an amuse-bouche of a smoky squid-ink tostada topped with tiny sweet cubes of cured trout and spicy kosho seasoning softened by a swirl of crème fraîche, or grilled snow peas and macadamia not crumb in a gossamer-thin sheet of salty lardo. A tiny pile of concassé strawberries macerated in tomato water until intensely sweet and salty, is paired with a teaspoonful of creamy white ewe’s curd and a few drops of basil oil: 'extraordinary'. Puddings might be a smooth, creamy sourdough ice cream, sprinkled with crunchy black-sesame breadcrumbs and a slick of fig paste – a perfect balance of flavour and texture. The simple decor fits right in: hues of cream and, occasionally, pale green with uneven, translucent handmade tiles covering the bottom half of the pale walls, plus dried flowers hung between a few boldly coloured paintings. Staff, too, are dressed in white, and provide spirited but immaculately professional service. If you don’t opt for the surprisingly reasonable wine flights, there’s a short list that favours small producers and minimal intervention – not forgetting an impressive array of local ciders (we are in Somerset, after all), some of which are made specially for the restaurant.
