The story
Since 2004, the Fox & Hounds has been the family business and home of James and Bianca Rix in the pretty village of Hunsdon, close to Harlow. This independent freehouse serves imaginative food with rustic Italian and French influences, with a menu that changes regularly according to the best produce available. The Fox & Hounds has been featured in the MICHELIN Guide every year since it opened, and held a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand from 2012 to 2024—a testament to its consistent quality and value.
Chef James Rix began cooking at 15, with work experience at the Waterside Inn in Bray and La Tante Claire with Pierre Koffmann. He went on to work alongside Michelin-starred chefs Gary Rhodes at The Greenhouse and Alastair Little in Soho, where he became head chef. Before opening the Fox & Hounds, Rix was head chef at Tom Conran’s The Cow in Notting Hill. He and Bianca, who met at school, restored the striking pub to create the stylish restaurant it is today.
The Fox & Hounds offers a simple but sophisticated menu of seasonal food. Dishes include hand-rolled pasta, whole grilled fish, grilled meats, and sharing steaks. Ingredients are carefully sourced, from rare-breed meat to Cornish Native Lobster and local game. Steaks and whole ribs of beef for Sunday lunch are cooked in a Josper oven, which works like an indoor barbecue to give meat a fantastic flavour while keeping it moist. The Josper is also used for whole fish, squid, scallops, and vegetables. The restaurant's Sunday lunches have been recognised as finalists for Best Sunday Lunch by Observer Food Monthly readers.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
A ‘tip-top’ local asset since 2004, James and Bianca Rix’s relaxed, unstuffy pub a few miles from Ware combines its roles with great panache. The casual bar serves as a dedicated drinkers’ den (real ales but no food), while the restaurant is airy, spacious and lit by an ornate gold chandelier – although most plaudits are reserved for the ‘fabulous’ ever-attentive staff. Outside is a pretty garden for all seasons, and the kitchen is also noted for its calendar-driven approach. Contemporary, ingredients-led Anglo-European cooking is the style, with springtime menus delivering everything from whole Cornish plaice with Jersey Royals and salty fingers (aka ‘jellybeans’, a cousin of marsh samphire) to perfectly pink, crisp-skinned French duck breast with gratin dauphinois and green peppercorn sauce. To start, readers have praised the three-cheese and hazelnut soufflé with spinach, and a dish of sautéed rabbit livers with fairy-ring mushrooms, peas and wild garlic on toast. To finish, a 'beautiful' saffron-poached pear and an almond tart with crème fraîche have gone down a treat. Roast rib of dry-aged Hereford beef with Yorkshire pud and all the trimmings is the highlight on Sundays, when lunch meanders on until 5pm. The kindly priced wine list favours France, with a decent smattering of organic bottles and by-the-glass selections. Also check out the owners' pop-up shop, a handy spot for coffee, pastries and deli produce.
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