The Old Pharmacy
backis a wine bar, bistro, and grocery store located in a 500-year-old building that formerly served as a pharmacy. The daily changing blackboard menu offers a selection of small dishes made with homegrown ingredients from the farm, and the adjacent shop sells grocery items, Roundhill coffee, organic wines, and local cider to take away. The Old Pharmacy was opened during the Covid-19 pandemic as an emergency shop to support local producers and supply the local community with food.
The menu at The Old Pharmacy celebrates Somerset produce and draws inspiration from farmhouse kitchens in rural Provence and Northern Italy. The open kitchen, timber panelling, and chic design provide a relaxing setting for pre-dinner drinks in a farmhouse-style environment.
Owned by Merlin Labron-Johnson, who earned his first Michelin star at the age of 24, The Old Pharmacy has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide, including as a sous chef at the legendary restaurant ‘In de Wulf’ in rural Belgium. The vegetables served on the menu are grown on his nearby farm.
“The Old Pharmacy feels like a natural progression from Osip. At the restaurant, we let the homegrown seasonal ingredients shine, so I wanted The Old Pharmacy to continue in this vein and allow locals and visitors alike to be able to take home the same produce we use at the restaurant just a few doors down.
‘I love the idea that you could drop in to The Old Pharmacy and pick up some supplies to take away like local cheese with beautiful charcuterie and a jar of pickles and go off into the Somerset countryside to enjoy a picnic with loved ones, or choose to stay and settle in for the night with some wine, cider and small plates”
Merlin Labron-Johnson, Food Mag
The Old Pharmacy does not take reservations, so head down for a relaxed coffee or wine bar experience.