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<a href=press.php target=_top>Back</a><br /><br /> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 width=300> <tr><td bgcolor=#9DB783><img src=images/spacer.gif width=1 height=1 /><br /></td> </tr> </table> <br /> <b>The Guardian - Sally Shalam</b> <span class=date>February 2008</span><br /><br /> <b>Top 10 UK food experiences: The Foxhunter, Monmouthshire</b><br /><br /> If you've ever seen tables laden with puffballs at London's Borough Market, the chances are they were picked by Raoul Van Den Broucke, a Belgian who lives in Wales - a sort of Carluccio of the Wye Valley. He supplies The Foxhunter with wild mushrooms and salad greens, and offers guests foraging trips - a new twist to a gastronomic overnight.<br /><br /> Bea and I are booked in at this, a former stationmaster's house, now a gastro pub owned by chef Matt Tebbutt (via a dizzy list of London establishments, among others, Chez Bruce and the Oak Room in its Marco Pierre White heyday) and his wife Lisa.<br /><br /> Accommodation is in two nearby cottages, and breakfast is DIY. "The bacon's really nice," says Sam - the helpful girl I've spoken to on the phone - showing us to The Old Stable. There's been a mix-up - this cottage only has one bedroom - but there's a put-u-up Sam can make up while we have dinner. Phew.<br /><br /> Soon as she's gone, Bea and I shoot round our whitewashed stone abode like marbles on a bagatelle board. It's an open-plan, one-up one-down with sparse modern furnishings. A wooden staircase with open treads leads to a bedroom in the roof space with dormer windows. We like it.<br /><br /> There's time to browse a book of Dylan Thomas poems while Bea takes a bath, then we're trotting up the road to dinner.<br /><br /> "I've got a problem with this menu," says Bea. "I could order everything on it." That's quite a triumph, since she's doing India Knight's low-carb diet.<br /><br /> So no Cloudy Bay for us then, but dinner is supremely enjoyable. It's not really a pub - the furnishings, original paintings and odd chandelier are too smart - but the atmosphere is relaxed and the efficient staff have time for amusing chat. Food quality is unquestionable and we round off longhorn ribeye and venison with polenta rhubarb crumble - one of Tebbutt's contributions to the BBC's Great British Menu - and a cheese selection robust with Britishness.<br /><br /> In the morning we watch a deep pink sky through a row of three small windows - like a perfect triptych. Raoul arrives early bearing a box of golden Gallina and curly dark wood ear mushrooms for the restaurant.<br /><br /> We park in a lane and, ignoring views down the Wye valley, start to scour the hedgerow, stooping to pick, sniff and taste what initially look like weeds. They aren't though - as Raoul reveals: hairy bitter cress, pennywort, wild sorrel, which tastes acidic compared with wood sorrel. He shows us blueberry plants, wild strawberries, and where to find raspberries in autumn.<br /><br /> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 width=300> <tr><td bgcolor=#9DB783><img src=images/spacer.gif width=1 height=1 /><br /></td> </tr> </table> <br /> <a href=press.php target=_top>Back</a>
AA Notable Wine List 2008 & 2009
Perfect Pub Awards : Best Food 2007
Wales the True Taste (Cymru y Gwir Flas) - Dining Out Gold 2005
AA Restaurant of the Year for Wales
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info@thefoxhunter.com
Telephone: 01873 881101
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