For those not starting the annual New Year diet or partaking in a ‘Dry January’, Bruton wine bar and deli, The Old Pharmacy, is a wonderful laid-back spot to enjoy a coffee alongside salads and toasties during the day before serving small plates (think Calabrian anchovies, a chilled butter bean soup with cucumber and wild fennel, and Tamworth pig charcuterie, local dairy, farmhouse cheeses, pickles and preserves) come evening; made all the more enjoyable when washed down with a glass of natural wine, beer or local cider from makers Wilding and Find & Foster.
Opened in the summer of 2021 by Merlin Labron-Johnson, following the success of his farm-to-table Michelin-starred restaurant, Osip, The Old Pharmacy’s menu is led by the produce that Merlin has grown himself on nearby Dreamers Farm, as well as highlighting ingredients from local Somerset suppliers.
Vinyls from Merlin’s eclectic personal collection are played as soon as evening falls, adding a sublime ambience for those popping by for a couple of drinks and light bites, or for those staying a little longer for dinner. The dining room, fitted out by British Standard by Plain English, features wooden floors, dark green panelled walls and reclaimed wood furniture that offer a sense of the rustic countryside. A central counter and open kitchen allow diners to be part of the action, whilst green and white enamel hanging lights and white ceilings serve to lift the space.
Housed in a 500-year-old building (a former pharmacy, as the name suggests), today The Old Pharmacy Bruton provides a daily changing blackboard menu of sumptuous small dishes to share using homegrown ingredients, with the addition of a small adjacent shop selling haute-grocery items to take away. Simple and honest farm-to-table goodness from a Michelin-starred chef in an atmospheric heritage property, this pharmacy offers a cure for all your discerning hunger needs.
The Old Pharmacy Bruton Photography, Maureen Evans.
