Welcoming lights illuminate the ancient signs of the White Hart Hotel, which is situated at the centre of Wiveliscombe: the small Somerset town that for centuries has provided a hub for the outlying villages of the Brendon Hills. Wiveliscombe is only 20 minutes from Taunton in the west of the county, nestled among the coombs and steep fields that have been a backdrop for farming and the many small and large shoots for which Exmoor is famous.

(You might also like to read our review of Cothelstone Manor, another West Somerset gem.)

Italian-inspired dining

Here is a hotel that has risen from the ashes as an ambitious project taken on by well-known restaurant critic, author and MasterChef judge William Sitwell and Jon Coward, owner of the nearby Bear Inn and Black Bear Brewery. Their objective was to bring quality Italian-inspired dining to the town, with a menu bubbling with fresh local ingredients, a superbly curated wine list and a dining room bedecked with colourful paintings, sporting prints, crisp white tablecloths and linen napkins.

To one side of the main entrance is a bar reminiscent of the popular meeting place of the now-defunct Carnarvon Arms at Dulverton. Among the local ales is a Sitwell Special, crafted by Black Bear. This is fine old-fashioned-tasting beer, redolent of hops and times gone by. It is just another detail that Sitwell has brought to the White Hart, where the skills of award-winning chef and Great British Menu contestant Charlotte Vincent showcase the ingredients of the West Country.

The White Hart is firmly establishing itself as a destination dining venue

‘Wivey’ is no Bruton or Broadway; indeed it has a faint whiff of a Wild West town. This makes it all the more impressive that in the months since opening the White Hart has firmly established itself as a destination dining venue. Think Billy Joel’s famous song Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. The 15-bedroom hotel employs a complement of 22, headed by general manager Andrew Richbell. Presiding with great cheerfulness over the dining room is his partner Sigrid Golder. All who work there are drawn from the locality, with several of the younger members of staff having graduated from Richard Huish College in Taunton.

To meet Sitwell, whose home is nearby and from where he hosts the Sitwell Supper Club in his barn, is to meet a man with a mission and a menu. “It was as editor of Waitrose Food magazine that I really developed a love and fascination for food,” he says. Throughout the evening of my stay he was talking to fellow diners. Many of them have become regulars, not only for the ever-changing menu but for his company and undeniable enthusiasm for the White Hart project.

To dine with Sitwell is akin to being in the company of a culinary Alan Whicker. He has scoured Italy and his many recipe books to help devise menus. Delicious starters, from oxtail on toast to marinated anchovies with locally baked sourdough, were complemented by a specially chosen white wine: Alto Adige Chardonnay 2024 from the Italian South Tyrol, with pleasing mineral notes and freshness.

Ales include Sitwell Special

All wines are served in Richard Brendon glasses, which adds to their texture and delight. Main courses included veal Milanese, the meat sourced from the renowned Darts Farm near Topsham in East Devon, and local Crowcombe lamb cutlets Sicilian style in a white-wine sauce. All of the fish comes from Brixham in Devon or the South Cornwall coast.

The extremely reasonably priced rooms are perfectly pleasant, offering television, tea-making facilities and plenty of pipinghot water in the en-suite bathrooms. There is also a secure and private car park at the hotel’s rear – always a boon in small market towns with modest parking. The White Hart’s rooms too are to undergo a full refurbishment and injection of Sitwell magic.

The entrance hall has a homely feel

The prosperity of Wiveliscombe historically rested with Hancock’s Brewery, as recorded in Susan Maria Farrington’s superbly illustrated book Wiveliscombe: A History. A more recent scion was the popular Reverend Rex Hancock of Watchet, who would address many hunt dinners with the words: “Here’s to the hounds, here’s to the morn, here’s to another fine day with the Quorn.” The White Hart is now adding to that prosperity with its resurgence. “The most important thing is the atmosphere, to create an escape from the outside world,” says Sitwell. No one will leave the White Hart without at least a small feeling of the escapism that Sitwell and his team have so cleverly created.

The White Hart, West Street, Wiveliscombe, Somerset.

Rooms from £70 per night for two people including breakfast. Lunch and dinner, two courses from £27.50.

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