Fox and Hounds, Goldsborough, Whitby (From The Northern Echo)

Striking gold

4:52pm Thursday 29th December 2011 in Reviews By Jenny Needham, Features Editor

Beautifully balanced dishes are produced in a tiny kitchen, off the beaten track, at the Fox and Hounds, Goldsborough, says Jenny Needham.

IT’S not surprising that so many people love walking the stretch of the Cleveland Way between Staithes and Whitby; the views are stunning.

You can see the little coastal jewel of Runswick Bay, clinging precariously to its steep footings. You can see gulls riding the thermals and terns plunging wave-ward in search of fish. You can see small town-sized tankers ploughing their way almost imperceptibly along the horizon towards Teesport.

But even on the hottest day, it is surprising that anyone would want to plunge into the waters around here; they are nithering.

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None of which bothers Sue Wren, proprietor of the Fox and Hounds, at Goldsborough, a stone or two’s throw inland off the Cleveland Way, near Lythe. Without even the comfort of a wetsuit, she throws herself into icy waves at any time of year.

When we visit this lovely little dining pub in the midst of winter, she is discussing the merits of sea swimming with the customer at the next table. They are planning to meet up for a festive swim, although unlike Sue, he’s a positive wimp: the man will be wearing a wetsuit.

When questioned about her questionable sanity in plunging into the North Sea in December, clad only in a swimsuit, Sue says she loves it.

After leaving London to move to Goldsborough, she had a short surfing career – “I think that’s best left to younger ones with less fear” – before getting hooked on sea swimming.

“I prefer it when the tide’s in because it’s freezing when you get out, especially if the wind is blowing. You don’t want to be walking far,” she says. “I tend to go in at Sandsend.”

This woman is one tough cookie. The Fox and Hounds is situated in a little Hamlet, off the beaten track, and during last year’s deep snows she would don a backpack and tramp through the drifts to Whitby in search of fennel – “yes, Whitby does sell fennel” –and other fresh produce.

If it’s not fresh, it doesn’t get house room in the Fox and Hound’s little kitchen, where Sue’s partner Jason Davies, a former chef at The Ivy, in London, works his wonders.

Superb fish dishes are partly what keep drawing me back to this welcoming little pub. All of it is bought locally at Whitby and Scarborough quays. “Our supplier rings us every morning to tell us what he’s got and what’s looking good, “ says sue.

Lobsters come out of Runswick Bay, the scallops come from Scotland, the meat is all rare breed and comes from Taste Tradition, near Thirsk. The organic vegetables are from Mickleby, near Saltburn, just along the coast.

The couple have also found the perfect recipe for an inviting hostelry. The car park is across the road, and the Fox and Hounds sits next to a stack-yard. The hamlet has a couple of houses.

On a wild night, you park the car and run for it, but the moment you close the door behind you, the warmth envelops you.

Sue is the consummate front-of-house hostess, often single-handed. Her welcome is friendly and warm and it’s noticeable that she’s on first name terms with most of the people who come in. They are obviously all coming back for more.

The place is small; there are only 25 covers.

The decor is eclectic with beamed ceiling, rustic furniture, gleaming glassware, subtle lighting, a roaring fire, quirky artwork and a Habitat cut-out lamp.

THE menu is simple; the prices too. There are three starters, three mains, and two sweets or cheese. The prices are all rounded up – starters £8 or £9, mains from £18, sweets from £5. Marked in chalk on the blackboard is the date. Everything is bought seasonally and cooked freshly, so the ingredients change daily.

Delicious home-made bread in a rustic tin bowl, with olive oil for dipping, is brought while we wait for our food to arrive. The background music - and I hate the loud, tasteless musak usually foisted on diners – is mellow jazz.

This time, for starter, I chose bruschetta with white crab meat, chilli, lemon and fennel, and wild rocket. The crab meat was succulent, given a bit of a nip, as befits a crab, by the flavourings, while not being overwhelmed by them.

My supper partner chose pheasant ravioli with rosemary butter, which definitely hit the mark, the pasta being perfectly al dente, the filling a flavoursome mouthful of meatiness.

ICAN’T come to the seaside, or any other restaurant, without wanting to order fish, but my partner has had the dry aged fillet steak here before and declared it melt-in-the-mouth perfection.

This time he opted for the pan-fried wild seabass fillet, puy lentils, curly kate, anchovy and rosemary sauce (£18). He had wanted to order the same as me: seared brill fillet, smashed cannellini beans, grilled fennel and salsa verde (£18), but after a small skirmish was persuaded to bite the bass.

Note: the food is so good here, it’s wise to opt for different dishes and share the experience.

Both fish were off the scale. Brill is delicious simply cooked and here is was seared to give blackened crispy skin underneath, with luscious white flesh atop.

Fennel isn’t something I would normally choose, but the licorice taste was delicate and a good foil to the fish.

The bass was firm with a clean, sweet taste. Sea bass can hold its own against a strong accompaniment and the anchovy and rosemary sauce was the perfect partner, while the kale and lentils added texture.

For dessert, my partner chose dark chocolate truffle cake, with espresso mascarpone cream (£6), which tasted wonderful but was probably calorifically catastrophic, and I had home-made (an adjective which isn’t really necessary at the Fox and Hounds) caramel ice-cream, a little ball of sweetness, offset by a slightly bitter aftertaste. Mmmmm… The Fox and Hounds isn’t inexpensive, nor should it be. For food of this quality, a bill of £88 for two with wine is very reasonable indeed. And a lot of people must agree, because despite being off the beaten track, you really do need to book a couple of weeks in advance.

It’s the sort of place that’s perfect for special celebrations. The sort of place, once hooked, you will want to keep returning to. And if you need to work off some calories the next day, you can always take a refreshing dip in the North Sea. You might even bump into Sue…