September newsflash: foodie news from the ‘hood

Knives and forks at the ready: new restaurants, cafés and a pub in Somerset & Dorset – and a West Country food and drink odyssey. Yum!

Ciao bello!

Da Costa Bruton Somerset italian restaurant

The long-awaited new restaurant at Hauser & Wirth, in place of the renowned Roth Bar & Grill, turns out to be an Italian! Da Costa is named for and inspired by gallery founder Irwan Wirth’s grandfather, who came from the Veneto region of Northern Italy and went on to own a restaurant in Switzerland. Expect traditional northern Italian recipes – antipasti, homemade pastas, risottos and daily specials cooked over fire – made with seasonal ingredients from their walled garden and the local area. A la carte, set lunch, Sunday menu, Kids menu. Weds to Sat 12pm –3pm; 6pm–9.30pm. Sun 12pm–6pm.

Cool vibes in Martock

olive kitchen and bar, martock, somerset

From the people behind the Old Diary Cafe in Bower Hinton and Canteen at Perry’s Cider Farm in Dowlish Wake comes The Olive Kitchen & Bar, a cool new café/restaurant in the Martock Workspace, just off the A303. The place has got a bit of a Californian beach shack vibe going on with rough hewn wood and corrugated steel walls, a canvas tent-style roof and seating outside. No view of the Pacific but you can see Ham Hill and the beautiful Somerset countryside. Come for brunch, mezze, barista coffee, cake (including sweet treats from The Pastry Bench), desserts, soft drinks and booze, including cocktails. On the menu: Ottonlenghi-inspired menu small plates like griddled aubergine with local White Lake Fetish cheese and homemade pesto, slow-cooked sticky pork; mains including harissa lamb/halloumi pitta and Persian fried chicken burger. Delish. Easy parking. Dogs are welcome. Mon to Sat, 10am–3pm; Sat eves 6pm–10pm.

Michelin Merlin’s moved

michelin Osip 2.0 bruton somerset

Michelin star Merlin Labron Johnson’s Osip 2.0 is now ensconsed in its new home in a former 17th century coaching inn on Kingsettle Hill in Hardway, just outside Bruton. Rock up and enjoy a stroll around the grounds, sip a drink in the Japanese-style tea house, watch the chefs at work in the kitchen in its modernist glass extension, then tuck into the farm-to-table restaurant’s signature dishes or acclaimed tasting menu. Tues to Thurs, dinner only; Fri to Sun lunch and dinner.

New in at Number One

Briar restaurant bruton somerset

Osip’s spot on Bruton High Street is now home to new restaurant Briar. Part of hotel Number One Bruton (Georgian town house, medieval forge, 12 cottages around a courtyard), Briar is the first restaurant of Sam Lomas, former head chef at Glebe House in Devon. Youngest finalist in BBC 2’s The Great British Menu, Finalist in the Roux Scholarship and Code Hospitality 30 under 30 list, he’ll be serving up a daily changing menu of small plates, sharing dishes, snacks and ‘proper puddings’, inspired by super local Somerset produce, and plants foraged and grown in the hotel’s own kitchen garden. Open Wednesdays to Saturdays for lunch and dinner; breakfast every day, from 11 Sept.

Get pickled in Poole

The pickled berry poole dorset

We’ve been hearing good thing about the cute little cafè/restaurant The Picked Berry recently opened in Poole – the lunches (minute steaks, lobster bisque, pan roasted sea bass), dinners (trio of pork, teriyaki salmon, sweet potato Wellington), Sunday roasts (with stonking Yorkies) and afternoon teas. Oh and the cocktails! Main, lunch, Sunday roasts and kids menus. Tues to Sat: lunch 12pm–2.30pm; afternoon tea 2pm–4pm; dinner 5.30pm–9pm. Sunday lunch 12pm–4pm.

Mine’s a half, what’s yours?

blue ball bruton somerset

Pop in for a pint of Cheriton Porter, Perridge Pale, Buster’s Best, Dowding’s cider (or a taster tray if you can’t decide) in the newly opened boozer the Blue Ball, just round the corner from Number One Bruton, in er, Bruton. You can’t miss it; it’s got a big blue guess what hanging outside. Open Monday to Thursday, 5.30pm– 11pm; Fridays 3.30pm–11pm; Sat noon–11pm; Sun noon until 10.30pm. Live music sometimes.

(Foodie) break for the border

Furzeleigh Mill Food ans Drink tours Calancombe-Estate devon
Calancombe Estate

Fancy a gastro stay filled with fascinating tours and tastings? The foodie-minded owners of gorgeous boutique hotel, Furzeleigh Mill in Buckfastleigh in Devon have come up with just the ticket: a four-night food odyssey. You’ll be ferried around some of Devon’s best local producers in Furzeleigh’s bespoke courtesy car visiting the Dartmoor Estate Tea, where you’ll take part in a tea ceremony; the Devon Chill Farm; the Riverford Field Kitchen and a wine tour around Calancombe Estate’s productive vineyard during harvest – and more. Every evening you’ll be staying in one of Furzeleigh’s beautiful boutique en suite rooms, and breakfasts and meals while staying are all included. No driving, just chilling, scoffing and quaffing – go on, treat yourself. £1100pp, choose from three dates – 25-29 Sept, 30 Oct-3 Nov, 6-9 Nov 2024.

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