People

Husband and wife team, Jane and Jago Hurt, have just celebrated their 11th anniversary at The Hare and Hounds. Over the past decade, they have built a solid reputation throughout Bedfordshire and its surrounding counties, for friendly service and excellent food, winning the Good Pub Guide’s “Best Dining Pub in Bedfordshire” award 2006/07/08/10. They have also been featured in The Michelin Good Food Guide. Entry to these two highly regarded publications is only gained via the public’s recommendation.

When Head Chef/Owner Jago Hurt came to The Hare and Hounds with Jane , he brought with him a wealth of over 15 years cooking experience in hotels and pubs around the country and The Scilly Isles. This knowledge and experience gave both him and Jane a very clear vision of where they wanted to take The Hare & Hounds.

They wanted to be the local pub with a friendly atmosphere and good food that supports its local community. So the first thing Jago did was to source local suppliers that could provide him the best produce.

Some of these suppliers he still uses a decade on:
•    G & M Growers – Farm shop and vegetable wholesalers
•    Franklins of Thorncote Green – Award winning free range poultry and game
•    Holloways of Luton – Supplier of Scottish beef (As Jago has been a founder member in the Scottish Beef Club since 2005)
•    Kiddy’s of Gamlingay – Free range pork
•    Wicker Fisheries – Daily supply from Billingsgate fish market
•    James Murdoch of Cardington – Spring lamb
•    Crump’s Butchers of Ashwell – English Rose Veal

This dedication to quality, locally sourced ingredients has brought people from far and wide on a regular basis for many years.

With Jago taking care of the kitchen, Jane went to work on the front of house. She wanted to create a welcoming pub with a relaxed atmosphere and homely feel to it. So she filled it with soft and warm furnishings (open fires in winter) to make people feel they could relax and enjoy themselves. She also trained her staff to give quality, professional and conscientious service. She wanted people who would pay attention to detail and would go the extra mile to make the customer feel welcome, allowing them to feel that they knew who was taking care of them rather than being just another face.

Over the years, The Hare and Hounds has seen a few changes in its core team members. However, for the last 5 years, Jane has had the help of manager James Coward (Jay), who brought 14 years of catering experience with him. Either of them are always on hand to meet new customers. Jago has the trusted help of Paul Goldman in the kitchen. Paul, who also started at The Hare and Hounds 5 years ago, has recently returned after taking a year to chef around Australia.

Jane and Jago feel, that with this dedicated and passionate team, strong community support and amazing, locally sourced produce they will soon celebrate another decade at The Hare and Hounds with many a familiar face.