Welcome to Rural Voices, our new monthly series of carefully curated talks served with a full cooked breakfast!
Get your weekend off to a fantastic start - arrive at 9am for a delicious home-cooked breakfast made with locally sourced produce from September House smallholding, Till Valley Eggs and more (vegetarian/vegan/gluten free options available). Then, whilst you drink a cup of fresh-ground coffee, enjoy a talk exploring our theme of Rural Creative Communities. We are inviting a range of fascinating speakers including farmers, writers, artists, historians and much more - many of them local - who all share an interest in rural communities and the many varied ways we can find collective strength and resilience.
Our speaker for April is Michelin starred Chef Merlin Labron-Johnson of Osip restaurant in Bruton. Merlin will be in conversation with Horningsham resident and international food artist Cherry Truluck about the joys and challenges of creating Extraordinary Food from 'Farm to Table'. Osip, which now has its own 'Dreamer’s Farm' nearby, offers an ever-changing, seasonal and hyper-local menu based on the produce received from the farm each day.
ABOUT MERLIN LABRON JOHNSON:
Raised in Devon, England, Merlin worked in Michelin starred restaurants all over the world before becoming sous chef to Kobe Desramaults at legendary restaurant 'In de Wulf' in rural Belgium. While Merlin was there, In de Wulf was voted 'Best restaurant in Europe' by OAD and also featured on numerous 'world's best restaurant' lists.
In 2014 Merlin moved back to the UK to launch 'Portland' restaurant to great critical acclaim, earning the restaurant a Michelin star within 9 months of opening at the age of 24. A year later he launched 'Clipstone', a neighbourhood restaurant in Fitzrovia which won the title of 'restaurant of the year' at the GQ awards as well as numerous 5 star reviews from critics such as AA Gill, Tom Parker Bowles and Jay Rayner.
In 2018 Merlin devoted his year to working with charities such as Help Refugees, Food For Soul and the Felix Project and was subsequently included in Forbes '30 Under 30' list for Europe as well the Code's '30 under 30' list for Hospitality for the UK.
Merlin now resides in rural Somerset where he splits his time between his Michelin starred farm-to-table restaurant ‘Osip’, his wine bar and bistro ‘The Old Pharmacy’ and the two plots of land where he grows his own fruit and vegetables.
Please arrive promptly at 9am for breakfast, the talk will begin at 9.45am.
BOOK NOW! Links are below. Tickets are just £12.50 (discounted to £10 for Horningsham residents - use the code 'horningsham' at check out). All profits go to the Village Hall Regeneration Fund.
If you need any help with booking please contact cherry@horningshamvillagehall.com