Da Costa, Bruton: 'Schlutzkrapfen is going straight into my list of things which are equally fun to say as to eat'

Seldon Curry almost has lunch with famous food writer Anna Del Conte

58 minutes from central Bristol is Bruton. Bruton has many great things: fabulous restaurants in the form of Osip, Briar and At The Chapel, The Godminster Shop where one can procure a heavenly wheel of cheddar, and Hauser & Wirth which is a rather good art gallery. It’s also surrounded by countryside perfect for stomping muddy boots through to build up an appetite. As good a day trip as you will find anywhere within an hour’s radius of Bristol.

Since late last summer, Bruton also has Da Costa, which, according to our resident chef-writer Seldon Curry, is pretty damn good.

If you can spare 88p a week, please consider becoming a paying subscriber to The Bristol Sauce so that we can continue highlighting spots like this for you without going bankrupt in the meantime. Thank you! ~ Meg

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Bruton, as seen from a hill

It could have been Gennaro, it could have been Giorgio, it could have been Tucci. It could even have been Gino, a man who lays the mamma mia on so thick I hear he makes the crew sign an NDA* before filming in case anyone lets slip about his Somerset mangel-wurzel upbringing. It could even have been the cheeky mothapukka.

But when you walk into an Italian restaurant and are seated two tables down from centenarian legendary food writer Anna Del Conte then you feel you are most likely in safe hands. Widely recognised as being integral in popularising Italian cooking in the UK, Anna is apparently a big fan of Da Costa and Artfarm generally, having recently written a glowing write up of their Manuela restaurant (which is in the arts district of Los Angeles, since you were asking, and looks incredibly cool).

Named after Iwan Wirth's maternal grandfather and living within the stunning Artfarm-owned Hauser & Worth gallery in Bruton, it is no surprise that Da Costa is absolutely gorgeous. It is a long, spacious right angle of a dining room that has colourful and stylish Italian trinketry (Campari signs, you know the score) and a huge and highly enviable open kitchen with a big wood fired grill. The constant smoke and flame give it a slight wild edge; Meatopia crossed with The Seahorse.

Being a purist quickly goes out the window when the drinks are this good

It is a menu to savour, one that has the indecency to spoil you with many delicious things to eat. I am in many ways a purist at heart and never more so when it comes to cocktails. However the radicchio and cardamom martini (£12) is an absolute belter, pink as a cartoon blush but served with boozy teeth and kick.

Potato bread (£4.5) was good, covered in a tsunami of sea salt and dangerously plentiful.

Not much of a looker

Canederli seems to be having a bit of a moment in the way that regional foods incongruously sometimes seem to do. Bread dumplings from the Italian Alps they are thrifty and delicious in nature, served here with pecorino and wild mushrooms (£16) that had been lashed over that flame in the corner. I would have liked the accompanying mushroom sauce to be a little more sultry broth and less claggy purée, but certainly tasty and the kind of food that keeps out the cold be it on the Alps or Somerset levels.

The lovely chap who looked after us recommended the schlutzkrapfen (£19), another hearty north Italian number that is a like a thick ravioli or a pierogi. It was stuffed with pumpkin and came with sage, pine nuts and a beautifully deep, buttery broth. No flavour pairings to scare the horses but very skilled and comforting cookery.

Try saying schlutzkrapfen three times in quick succession

Incidentally, schlutzkrapfen is going straight into my list of things which are equally fun to say as to eat (schnitzel, spanokopita, pamplemousse).

We could have ordered a massive rib steak to share which I only partially regretted not doing when I walked past the kitchen and saw the chefs rendering steaks fat side down over the fire. We could also have ordered lasagne to share which Anna seemed to be enjoying on the other table, and which I haven't really stopped thinking about since as it seems highly possible it would be the best version of the best dish ever.

Anyway, no regrets, they only hurt. A wonderful lemon sole (£31) was brought to us and I briefly forgot Anna's lasagne. It was truly a thing of fishy beauty, with the skin left on to protect it from the inferno. Served in that confident, unadorned way that is, I increasingly think, the finest way with good fish: a bit of lemon, great olive oil and a steady hand at the tiller. We had a very elegant and fresh spiral of shaved fennel and nice fat capers as a crisp counterpoint. I ordered a side of Tuscan hispi cabbage with capers and chilli (£8) that almost stole the soles thunder. Capers with everything from now on.

Fennel sat atop like a badly placed wig barely covering the bald patch, but delicious nonetheless

You could chose from a menu like this at random with the same happy results. If I had been abandoned I could have gotten to know the bigoli in salsa (£16) and the estate shot venison and polenta (£32) a little more intimately.

A panna cotta (£9) is easy to make, but tricky to make brilliantly. This had saffron and Bruton milk to jolly it along and was a picture of sunshine, almost tricking my icy English winter bones into the illusion of a beach sunset and some vitamin D.

I absolutely loved the sage and orange ice cream (£4); sage is such a mysterious and enigmatic presence in the sweet world. I loved even more the very heavy and glamorous silver coupe it arrived in (Tricketts of Sheffield - I had to look; nothing so cruel as the march of middle age).

Quadruple parked

Coffee was excellent, as were a couple of the more affordable grappas from a very appealing list.

It was not cheap but then it was never going to be. It gave me a feeling that at least temporarily things might just be okay. I was almost giddy enough to part with cash in the most luxurious Durslade farm shop next door. Almost.

All words and most photos by Seldon Curry

Da Costa, Durslade Farm, Bruton, BA10 ONL

*This was written before the allegations about Gino D’Acampo made the news, which have added a whole new level to the joke about getting crew members to sign NDAs. Our thoughts are with those affected by Gino’s behaviour. But let’s face it, is anyone really surprised?

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