Chef Merlin Labron-Johnson on the journeys that shape his cooking
Merlin Labron-Johnson, the chef behind Osip in Somerset, talks about his approach to travel in this interview. He has just come back from a driving trip through France and is due in Athens and Tokyo, often adding personal days around work commitments. The article also notes how his trips inform his cooking and the items he brings home, including kitchen tools found in Japan.
Devon-born, Labron-Johnson cooked in Switzerland, France, Belgium before gaining London's Portland a Michelin star at 24. He opened Osip in Bruton in 2019, linking farm and kitchen. His newer Pharmacy Field Kitchen, developed with Zsuzsanna Toth and Marc Ackland, offers farm meals and private events where guests may harvest some ingredients.
His work often sends him abroad, but he adds personal days. A recent French road trip precedes Athens and Tokyo. These journeys shape home dishes such as Japanese rice, dhal and biryani, and he has brought back Japanese kitchen scissors. He prefers light packing, usually laptop and phone.
This story may influence food-focused travelers and diners by highlighting chefs' personal travel as a source of culinary ideas and restaurant identity. It could encourage readers to seek local recommendations, regional produce, and small kitchen tools abroad, potentially benefiting destination businesses and artisan makers. For chefs and hospitality workers, such profiles may reinforce the value of work-related travel and cross-cultural exchange, though the effects on broader travel patterns or local economies are likely modest and difficult to measure.