Chef Merlin Labron Johnson grew up in the English county of Devon, a region where agriculture has been an important industry since the 19^th century. Wayward at school but fascinated by cooking, he left at 16 to train as a chef. However as he gained in technique and craft, he began to understand that his training was being viewed through a distinctly British lens. Curious about what was happening in the gastronomic world further afield in Europe - and more internationally, he decided to leave Britain.

His first stop was southern Switzerland near the French and Italian borders, working at Michelin level in Sion and Champéry. On his days off he explored both sides of the borders and their many cafes, casual and fine-dining restaurants. One of these - the two Michelin-starred restaurant within the luxury hotel, Hameau Albert 1er in Chamonix, France - soon became a firm favourite. Attracted to the consistency of a food style and service that made the most of its mountain location at the foot of Mont Blanc, he applied for a job and at age 20 joined the team where he remained for one year.

Various stagiaires followed including In de Wulf under Kobe Desramaults in Belgium. Located in the Flemish countryside, In de Wulf offered a very natural style of cooking, that followed an almost religious application in the use of local ingredients. His short experience here had a seminal impact on him and one that would help define the direction of his own culinary style in later years. Wanting to explore this further, he accepted a permanent position where he remained for two years, working his way through the ranks to his ultimate position as Kobe’s Sous Chef.

A short sabbatical then followed in New York as an intern with Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group.

Hearing of his success in Belgium, Merlin was approached by London-based restaurateurs William Lander and Daniel Morgenthau in 2014, with a proposal to lead his own kitchen project in London. Merlin moved to the capital in November that year and they opened their first restaurant together, Portland, in January 2015. Nine months later, Portland was awarded a Michelin star when Merlin was just 24 years old. Quickly building on its success, the trio opened a sister, more casual restaurant, Clipstone in 2016 which also gained critical acclaim.

However, as much as he enjoyed the kitchens and the city’s endless supply of quality produce, he remained absorbed in what he was doing rather than what was happening around him. Although his cooking had been embraced by the public and press alike and he and the restaurants had garnered awards and accolades, a disconnect had taken hold of him and he missed the energy and the daily personal connection to the land. He knew he wanted to create something less constrained, more in the spirit of the restaurants and places that most appealed to him and started to look further afield.

His search culminated in 2019 on the High Street in the rural town of Bruton in Somerset. The owners of Number One Bruton were creating a boutique hotel from a series of interconnected buildings - an elegant Georgian townhouse, mediaeval forge and row of cottages set around a private courtyard - and were looking for someone to lead their ground-floor restaurant. Mutual friends who knew Merlin from London introduced them both and he was offered the management of the restaurant space to run his own business.

Merlin leapt at the opportunity and left London behind. As he honed the finer details of the restaurant, its concept and interiors, he also forged relationships with local producers, farmers and neighbours in this tight-knit rural community. One of them who lived close by, owned a walled garden with an orchard on his land that he had not utilised and offered it to him. Now he had a restaurant and the beginnings of his own supply of ingredients.

He opened Osip in November 2019.

Four months later in the Spring of 2020, the country went into lockdown as the global pandemic hit. With the restaurant closed and initial restrictions on movement in place, Merlin sought sanctuary in his garden and orchard focusing all his efforts there. Spring passed into Summer and with the entire Osip team now involved, like many small holdings and even larger farms, they were beginning to harvest their produce. He had also been offered a full field nearby by another landowner to help grow ingredients for when the restaurant would eventually reopen.

During this time, the majority of the population was confined to home, and as his produce came close to harvesting, Merlin began to look for a space to supply the local community. A neighbour informed him of a shop on the High Street that was vacant in what had been originally a pharmacy. Just moments from Osip, Merlin managed to secure the building as a pop-up to sell his produce.

As Britain moved in and out of lockdowns, the pop-up became more of a space where locals would briefly meet and Merlin began to reconsider how the building could be better utilised. He wanted to continue to celebrate local produce and still offer the town a casual meeting place and after transforming the interior, he opened The Old Pharmacy in January 2021. Open from breakfast through to dinner and inspired by the cooking of the farmhouses in rural France and Italy, the popular space now holds a bistro, wine bar and restaurant, with a selection of grocery items to take away.

That same month, the Michelin Guide Britain and Ireland awarded Osip its first Michelin star.

 By mid-summer, Britain had lifted all restrictions on business. Osip was able to fully welcome back its guests and Merlin, building on the success of growing his own produce, was looking for more land. A second field became available as another landowner was reluctant to let it lie fallow. After putting his plans on hold for so long, he now had two full fields, a walled garden and an orchard. He began building on the foundations of the restaurant he had always dreamed of.

Awards and accolades quickly followed and Osip’s reputation began to attract international attention.

By 2022, he had almost outgrown the kitchen space at Number One Bruton and with the land he had now acquired giving him access to an even greater supply of ingredients, he began to look for larger premises. He found the perfect location in a run-down former coachhouse, just 10 minutes’ drive from Bruton itself and a similar journey from the mainline trainlink at Castle Cary, just one and a half hours from central London’s Paddington Station.

He bought the building and spent the following year raising the finances to repurpose, renovate and refurbish the interiors and its grounds. With construction work now well underway, Osip’s latest evolution is set to open its doors in July 2024.

Throughout his career, Merlin has supported and championed several charitable and altruistic initiatives, including cooking regularly at the Refettorio Felix Centre for homeless people; contributing to the Chefs’ Manifesto in support of the UN’s sustainable development goals; as well as partnering with Help Refugees by travelling to refugee camps across Europe to cook for those in need.