Artfarm to open Da Costa restaurant in Bruton

Artfarm is to open a new restaurant, Da Costa, next month, at the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Durslade Farm in Somerset.

The 74-cover restaurant will replace the Roth Bar and Grill, which closed in January 2024, and sit alongside the Roth Bar which opened over the summer. 

The independent hospitality company behind the Fife Arms hotel in Braemar and Mount St Restaurant in London’s Mayfair, has named the restaurant Da Costa after Artfarm’s co-founder Iwan Wirth’s maternal grandfather who was originally from Italy.

The Italian inspiration will seep into the menu with dishes from the northern regions of the country, including risotto with toasted walnuts, a staple dish from Rivamonte and zuppa d’orzi. Other dishes include carpaccio of Durslade Farm beef and Cornish Yarg, handmade buckwheat pasta with Fonduta or South coast grilled red mullet with fennel and caper salad.

Ben Orpwood, who joined Artfarm earlier this year, has developed the menu and will be leading the kitchen in its initial months.

The wine list will include a global selection of 100 bins with an emphasis on Italian and British small domain producers, including wines from Durslade Farm’s vineyards.

The restaurant, which opens on 7 September, has been designed by architect firm Laplace, along with garden designer Piet Oudolf, with building works conducted by locals Rob and Sam Morse.

The space includes a new courtyard garden while guests dining inside will sit next to the custom-built centrepiece wood-fire stove and BBQ.

Guests will find an abundance of artwork at Da Costa, like at all Artfarm properties thanks to its close connection with Hauser & Wirth. Da Costa will house artworks including Phyllida Barlow maquettes and Piet Oudolf drawings of the perennial meadow.

Further works on display by Philip Guston, Rita Ackermann and Berlinde de Bruyckere, can be seen alongside new additions by Italian artists Francesco Vezzoli, Umberto Manzo, Roberto Coughi, Fausto Melotti and Roxy in the Box.