Ex-Potting Shed and Rectory couple set up Welsh food pub
Jim and Rhiannon Dobson have taken over the Fox and Hounds in Llancarfan, in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales.
The pair told Wales Online they were determined to make the pub a more family-friendly place to visit and have developed a children’s menu and extended opening hours.
Rhiannon told the newspaper: “Running the Fox and Hounds is perfect for us, and we aim to ensure the pub becomes the heart and soul of the village once more."
‘Drop by for a good pub meal’
She added: “Our aim is to create a warm, relaxed and welcoming atmosphere where families can enjoy a Sunday roast, and people can drop by for a good pub meal.
“The menu includes a wide range of dishes, so people can have a simple supper or a more elaborate meal, depending on what they fancy.”
Dishes on the new children’s menu include home-made beef burger with chips and salad, grilled chicken breast with chips or salad, and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.
The adult menu features pan-fried hake with roast cauliflower, crushed potatoes and spinach; chicken and ham hock terrine with piccalilli; and white chocolate parfait with passion fruit sorbet and pineapple salsa.
The pub also has eight en-suite bedrooms and sits next to 15th century St Cadoc’s Church, which is famed for its wall paintings that are currently being restored.
The Dobsons' former pub – the Potting Shed in Crudwell, Wiltshire – was favoured by royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton, where they regularly went for romantic meals.
Zero rating for food hygiene
However, in 2014 when the Dobsons weren't running the site, the pub was given a zero rating for food hygiene after a complaint was investigated.
Last summer the Potting Shed was awarded a five-star hygiene rating, the highest a food venue can achieve.
In 2012, the pub was named Pub of the Year in the Good Pub Guide and has achieved various food and tourism accolades over the years.
Don’t make the headlines for the wrong reasons, find out how to avoid a zero hygiene rating for food.
