The story
Brassica is at 4 The Square, Beaminster, DT8 3AS, where the kitchen cooks Mediterranean-leaning modern European food. The Good Food Guide 2026 rated it Very Good, and its owners, Louise Chidgey and Cass Titcombe, have made it one of the more inventive tables in west Dorset.
Cass Titcombe builds dishes around accented seasoning and light, precise cooking. Orecchiette comes with prawns, agretti and tomato. Halibut is precision-timed and served with borlotti beans, fennel and spring onions, with a creamy aïoli adding bite.
The smaller plates have a tapas-like feel. Ortiz anchovies arrive on sourdough, and thinly sliced raw courgette is dressed with mint and lemon.
The bay windows sit on a corner site, and the walls carry brightly coloured prints and plates. Vivid cushions add to the room's playful tone.
Diners can book a table by the fireside or sit at the newer bar counter, where stools have backrests and upholstered seats. A food and home store also operates inside the restaurant.
The puddings are simple and generous: chocolate and ginger sundae, almond cake with raspberries and crème fraîche, apricot fool, and affogato.
The wine list is small but carefully chosen, with glasses starting at £5. Bottles range from Grüner Veltliner to Blauer Zweigelt, and the list leans toward current, lively styles.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
With its 'lovely vibe' and 'inventive food', Brassica has undoubtedly given a welcome jolt to the dining scene in Beaminster, which is exactly what its owners Louise Chidgey and Cass Titcombe set out to do. Inside the bay-windowed corner site, the decorative tone vibrates with idiosyncrasy, thanks to brightly coloured prints and plates on the walls and a connoisseur's approach to vivid cushions. Business gets going at the back end of the week, with lunches and suppers Thursday to Saturday, and a well-supported Sunday lunch offering. Cass Titcombe has a cool instinct for the combination of accented seasoning and lightness of substance that are today's hallmarks, resulting in main dishes such as orecchiette with prawns, agretti and tomato, or a precision-timed halibut fillet with borlotti beans, fennel and spring onions, given creamy pungency with aïoli. The smaller plates have a distinctly tapas-like air, from Ortiz anchovies with sourdough to sliced raw courgette freshly dressed in mint and lemon. Those Sunday lunches proved a winning formula for one couple, who enjoyed the careful treatment accorded to both hake and pork, as well as the inspired choice of veg. If vegetables are to be the main element, they might be roast leeks with pickled mushrooms, lentils and chard. Desserts are a canny exercise in how simple resources can produce extravagant satisfaction: chocolate and ginger sundae; almond cake with raspberries and crème fraîche; apricot fool; affogato. A small but expertly curated wine selection is packed with on-trend flavours, from Grüner Veltliner to Blauer Zweigelt. Small glasses start at £5, and damn us for pointing out that even the £105 for a bottle of developing Gevrey-Chambertin is hardly an act of grand larceny hereabouts.
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