The air feels crisp and, suddenly, clean when I alight at Castle Cary in south Somerset: genuinely the most picturesque train station I have seen in my five years in England, wrapped in greenery on either end and complete with a shiny deli-cum-cafe sculpted from glass, wood, and red brick, The Creamery. Autumn is in full swing; it's not even 6PM, but the sky has already dimmed. Yet, from the window seat of the taxi driving me to Michelin-starred farm-to-table restaurant, Osip, I can still catch a glimpse of the surrounding countryside as it darkens into shadows beside me.
Founded in November 2019, Osip started as an ingredient-led concept tucked inside the Number One Bruton boutique hotel, serving plates made with produce, meat, seafood, and poultry sourced in and around the namesake town. One of the English pioneers of the 'field-to-plate' movement, the establishment was dreamed up by Devon-bred chef patron and farmer Merlin Labron-Johnson. A burgeoning name on the international gastronomic scene, Labron-Johnson's debut eatery, Fitzrovia's Portland, earned him a Michelin star aged 24, less than a year after launching in 2014, and was quickly followed by the buzz made by the nearby neighborhood restaurant Clipstone, his second opening.
