Eastlife Spring 2021

FOOD & DRINK
In the Kitchen
…with James Rix,
Chef and Owner, at
Fox & Hounds, Hunsdon
James began cooking, aged 15,
in his local village restaurant and
had work experience at Waterside
Inn in Bray and La Tante Claire with
Pierre Koffmann. In 1994, he started
at the Greenhouse with Gary
Rhodes and later moved to one of
the Roux brothers’ consultancies in
upstate New York. After a brief spell
at London’s Oxo Tower, James
started at Alastair Little’s Frith Street
restaurant in Soho, where he worked his way to head chef. In
2000, he moved to Tom Conran’s The Cow, before opening the
Fox & Hounds in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire in 2004.
Nat Aubery
What or who inspired you to become a chef?
I fell into cooking with a Saturday job in a pub in the small
Buckinghamshire village where I grew up. My first job after
college was with the legendary Gary Rhodes and he was a real
inspiration to me.
Do you have any standout moments of your career so far?
I always dreamt of opening my own restaurant so opening the
doors of the Fox & Hounds has to be the standout moment. It’s
been a labour of love from the start! Another highlight was being
awarded our first Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2012, which we’ve
held ever since.
Describe dining at the Fox & Hounds in five words.
Welcoming, convivial, gentle, familiar and friendly.
Tell us about the menu at the Fox & Hounds.
Our simple but sophisticated menu features creative food with
seasonal ingredients. We source the best produce we can and
don’t mess around with it. We use rare-breed meat, local game
and native fish and seafood. Fox & Hounds favourites include
crab taco with mango salsa, handmade spaghetti with clams,
Swaledale lamb rump and Old Spot pork loin. We’re also famous
for our Sunday lunches!
Can you name an ingredient you love to cook with and one
you hate?
Love: game birds…partridge, pheasant. Hate: prunes!
Are there any cooking gadgets that you can’t live without?
We’re pretty gadget free and don’t have any toys – just flames
and knives. My favourite thing in our kitchen is our charcoal
Josper oven that works like an indoor barbecue to give meat a
fantastic flavour while keeping it moist and tender.
When it’s your day off, what do you like to do?
My wife and business partner, Bianca, and I love to go for lunch
in London. Our favourite is Kiln, in Soho because it’s so different
from the kind of food we cook here. Other than that, I like to go
to the gym or for a run over the fields to de-stress. We have two
teenagers, so it’s good to hang out with them too.
What seasonal ingredients should our readers be looking
to buy this spring?
Look for produce from local growers or farmers’ markets – spring
vegetables like peas and spring cabbage or foraged greens like
nettles and wild garlic.
www.foxandhounds-hunsdon.co.uk
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