Da Costa

Hauser & Wirth's fabulous new Italian restaurant in Bruton, Somerset

The kitchen is open plan so you can see the chefs work with the piece de resistance being the black, especially designed and created oven at the end

When the food critic William Sitwill reviewed Da Costa, Hauser & Wirth's, new restaurant at its arts centre in Bruton, he said mentioned that the only "irritation was that there is not something as fabulous near me". He loved it in other words and so do we although some locals are complaining that the eatery, a nod in the direction of Ivan Wirth's maternal grandfather who came from Northern Italy, is not a proper pizza and pasta style restaurant. It isn't, it offers much more traditional northern Italian style fayre though there is pasta - we loved our crayfish tagliatellewhen we went there with claws poking up playfully through the pasta. And good old-fashioned puddings like panna cotta and tiramisu so we weren't grumbling.

A space reworked, Da Costa is a great new restaurant space at Hauser & Wirth

The restaurant is the remodelled version of the old Roth Bar & Grill which was incredibly popular before Da Costa took over, but Hauser & Wirth wanted to give it a new stamp in part to celebrate it's 10th anniversary and to freshen the restaurant up. The oven is a work of art - a black monster of a grill oven that dominates one corner especially created for the venue. Somehow the new design makes more sense of the area although a lot of people are now missing the covered outdoor brasserie area which became popular post Covid. There are however, tables and chairs outside and the restaurant has yet to have a summer season.

The entrance immediately evokes the sense of a comfortable rustic kitchen

The feel of the restaurant is more rustic and "at home" like than it's previous incarnation which goes with the current mood for eating out to be a comfortable and comforting experience.

The wine selection is excellent at Da Costa

The wines are excellent with William Sitwell citing Maid Bruton, the wine from Hauser & Wirth's own local vineyard which you can see from the hills behind the Arts Centre's farm.

The wonderful new Roth Bar at Hauser & Wirth, has a revolving door modelled on the Groucho Club's

There's also a delightful new bar which still bears the name Roth after is creator and looks like a cross between a traditional London pub bar and a Spaghetti Western joint. Location wise, it's tricky as it is also a bit of a walk through to the gallery but that is being rethought to see if the bar can sit more comfortably in the room and the patrons too. Nevertheless it still a great place for a pre-dinner cocktail on a weekend night or to shake your tail feather generally at lunchtime or in the evening. It offers bar snacks if you don't want to be in the main restaurant.