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.
![The Old Pharmacy Bruton Somerset](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy2.jpg)
![The Old Pharmacy Bruton Somerset](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy11.jpg)
![Restaurant by Merlin Labron-Johnson](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy4.jpg)
![Restaurant by Merlin Labron-Johnson](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy5.jpg)
![Restaurant by Merlin Labron-Johnson](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy6.jpg)
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 Somerset](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy3.jpg)
![The Old Pharmacy Bruton Somerset](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy8.jpg)
![The Old Pharmacy Bruton Somerset Restaurant by Merlin Labron-Johnson](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy9.jpg)
![The Old Pharmacy Bruton Somerset](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy10.jpg)
![The Old Pharmacy Bruton Somerset](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/oldpharmacy7.jpg)
The Old Pharmacy Bruton Photography, Maureen Evans.