This foodie getaway might just be the UK’s best special occasion destination

Up until recently, my experience of Somerset has been almost entirely limited to the very specific coordinates of Worthy Farm. Sure, I’ve passed through the county on multiple occasions, but almost all of the detail has been smudged and blurred by either giddy excitement (the way into Glastonbury) or end-it-now-please misery (the way home from Glastonbury). So as we drive from Castle Cary station into a red and orange explosion of crisp, autumnal countryside, I’m slightly taken aback by just how beautiful it all is. Is it always this stunning? Does everyone else know what’s down here?

Maybe I’m behind the curve, but if the county wasn’t already on your weekend hit-list (and with the journey taking roughly 90 minutes from Paddington with Great Western Railway, we’re firmly in overnight break territory), it surely will be soon, because as well as all the scenery, Somerset is also hiding one of the country’s most exciting dining experiences. Osip has been on the scene for a while now, having first set up shop in nearby Bruton back in 2019. Chef Merlin Labron-Johnson collected his first Michelin star in 2021, but ever since relocating to a 17th-century coaching inn in 2024, the restaurant seems to be operating on a whole other level. Best of all, Osip now has four on-site bedrooms, meaning there’s no longer any need to keep an eye on the train timetables as you wait for dessert to arrive.

A word of warning though - staying here will likely ruin every pub-with-rooms you encounter going forwards, because from the moment you discover the freshly-baked canelés waiting to greet you on the bedside table, you know the level has been well and truly raised. Then there’s the room itself, a split level situation with a freestanding bath and cosy sofa area on the ground floor, and a giant super-king bed and wet room at the top of the stairs. The décor is all soothing neutrals, exposed beams and oak flooring - think rustic farmhouse via West London design studio - and best of all, it’s stumbling distance from the restaurant below, where the magic really happens.

As soon as you’re seated in the bar and served with a theatrically presented selection of snacks (shout out to the Tokyo turnip tartlets served on colonnades that look like they’ve been plucked from a miniature Parthenon), you realise that this isn’t just dinner. You’re in for an experience, each beat of which has been thought out in minute detail. The pre-dinner drinks are a masterclass in anticipation-building, before you’re eventually ushered through to the cosy dining room, where every table is angled towards the open kitchen and its cast of impressively chill-seeming chefs.

The tasting menu is the only available option during dinner service (£125 per head, with a stripped back version available for £95 at lunchtime) so the only decision you need to make is whether or not to opt for the incredible wine pairing and / or a couple of bonus courses. An extravagance, certainly, but this is very much a special occasion restaurant, and it’s hard to decline lobster served three ways when it’s staring you in the face.

While some tasting menus can begin to feel like a chore when the number of courses enters the double digits, Labron-Johnson’s food is so consistently surprising and delightful, you won’t want it to end. 85% of the produce comes from the restaurant’s two farms and orchard, all of which are located a short drive away, and so the menu itself changes each service, depending on what’s in season.

That being said, there are always some anchor points you can expect to enjoy whenever you visit. A plate of farm crudités for example, or a genuinely world class taco - made on our visit from a rich beetroot masa and filled with venison heart. The menu is rich in creativity (witness a gateaux constructed from wafer-thin layers of scallop and celeriac) but there are big, hearty flavours too (the venison and quail pithivier pictured above - so decadent, even Henry the Eighth would blush) and despite the incredible technique on show, at no point does it feel like the kitchen has lost sight of what you might actually like to eat.

While it’s technically possible to book for two nights, the flow of the Osip experience, from the friendly train station pickup to the impeccable farmhouse breakfast, feels precision tuned to an overnight visit. It’s the perfect place to book next time you have any kind of celebration on the horizon, but book it early. It doesn’t feel like a second Michelin star can be too far away, and when it arrives, those four bedrooms are going to book up fast…  

Rooms at Osip start from £240 per night, including breakfast and Osip Concierge services.

Trains from London Paddington to Castle Cary start at £23 per person with Great Western Railway.