A HUSBAND and wife have opened a new restaurant, bakery and wine shop.

28 Market Place, Somerton, is run by Ben and Vanessa Crofton, with Great British Menu finalist Dan Fletcher.

It is house in a collection of Grade II* listed buildings and celebrates the best of West Country and wider British produce.

Ben and Vanessa have spent the past year working with architects to oversee the careful restoration of the 18th Century buildings, with special attention to protect the heritage space while introducing a contemporary aesthetic.

Original window frames, flagstones and staircases have been salvaged and an internal courtyard introduced to flood the space with natural light.

Freshly baked artisan bread, pastries and filled sourdough doughnuts are made daily in the adjoining bakery, and the wine shop offers an extensive list of over 100 wines not found on the main wine list, that can be enjoyed in the restaurant or to take away.

In the restaurant, guests can enjoy a menu of seasonally changing dishes from head chef Dan Fletcher, formerly of Michelin-starred The Square in London’s Mayfair and Fenchurch at Sky Garden.

Example dishes include fallow deer, beetroot, red cabbage and preserved black currants, Cornish red chicken, delica pumpkin and chanterelles on sourdough toast and pollock with wood-fired leeks, St Austell bay mussels and sea vegetables.

Vegetarian options will include stuffed Harlequin squash, hen of the woods mushroom and confit egg yolk.

On Sundays, the kitchen serves up sharing roasts which carry all the staples of the classic Sunday lunch, with inventive sides and luxury touches from Dan and his team, including roast Iron Age pork chop for two, baked russet apple celeriac, black cabbage and mustard dressing and 50-day dry aged rump of beef, stuffed Yorkshire pudding, bone marrow and roast potatoes.

Alongside their meal, guests can enjoy bread fresh from the 28 Market Place in-house bakery, headed up by dedicated bakery manager Alba Lage, formerly of Soho Farmhouse.

The bakery also serves a selection of delights to eat-in or take away, from skilled bakers Ettore Mello, (formerly of Nopi), and rising local star Arthur Stokes (formerly of The Bread Station in London Fields).

These include a fresh stuffed sourdough doughnut with bergamot and white chocolate, a caramelised hazelnut, pear and single origin 70% chocolate stuffed choux bun.