Spoiler alert: The kitchen at Hunter’s Head is operating at a higher level than most in NoVA — and in a smaller space. Knowing that it serves British classics cooked to an impressive standard, you may be tempted to call the newly reopened favorite a gastropub. But don’t.
“That’s not what I wanted this to be,” says owner Jarad Slipp. “I want this to be staunchly pub food, like fish and chips at the best level, bangers and mash at the best level, not avant-garde food.”
Locals may recognize Slipp as the man behind some of horse country’s favorite places to eat: Knead Wine in Middleburg and Purcellville and Tremolo Bar in Middleburg.
Slipp is also a master sommelier, one of fewer than 300 on the planet.
He’s seen much of the world in a quest to hone his craft. That included working at three-Michelin-starred-for-a-quarter-century Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on London’s Royal Hospital Road at the turn of the millennium. There, he worked front-of-house, beginning as chef de rang and leaving as an assistant manager.
British food doesn’t have the best global reputation. And while Slipp says that “there is something to it on a base level,” he also believes that London is currently one of the best food cities in the world — “a rocking good food town,” as he puts it.
Leveling Up
Hunter’s Head earns your visit with improvements on nearly all counts over its previous incarnation. The restaurant changed hands in late 2025 and, after renovations, reopened in March.
Slipp has dropped “Tavern” from the restaurant’s name and cut several menus. There’s no more specific brunch or lunch, just one bill of fare for all occasions. Fortunately, it’s packed with hits.
I’ve had some arid Scotch eggs in my time. Forget about those golf balls; at Hunter’s Head, a moist lamb sausage mix — with just enough curry to remind you that India was a British colony — coats an admirably jammy egg. It’s crisp in the right places and voluptuously soft in others. It’s cut into sharable halves that rest in a pool of herb crème fraiche.
Should you want to start your meal with a toast, you’ll be rewarded by Slipp’s beautifully curated, (mostly) moderately priced wine list. “We don’t have prosecco, but what we do have is something that’s much better than for the same price as prosecco. Go find me another English, British, Irish pub in America that has a wine list anything like ours, that’s curated by a master,” says Slipp.
“Toast” is also literal here. Charred tomatoes and ricotta atop lightly blackened slabs of a hearty loaf create a dish worth far more than the sum of its parts. It’s just the type of small plate one might expect from the man behind Tremolo Bar. Welsh rarebit, on the sandwich section of the menu, is also a worthy starter for its blistered cheese sauce that’s boozy with Guinness.
The Main Event
You may not need a starter if your party elects to indulge in a Sunday roast. The British tradition of a meaty meal gets more than its due at Hunter’s Head, and it’s not limited to one day of the week. In fact, that section of the menu is entitled “Everyday Is Like Sunday.”
Diners choose from slow-braised pork belly, rosemary lamb loin, or côte de boeuf. Whichever protein they select, it will come with velvety sauce bordelaise to complement it. The pork belly arrives in hunks of well-rendered pig flesh dusted with fresh herbs in a sauce-filled mini pan.
It is near perfection, but so is everything else included in the meal. Lemony Caesar salad with buttery house croutons; buoyant, eggy popovers; crispy fried-then-roasted potatoes; and blistered, honey-glazed carrots all earn their spots on the wooden tray that fills the table. To say that it’s one of the most satisfying meals being served in NoVA right now would be an understatement.
Those on the hunt for less of a feast will be impressed with the fish and chips. An airy jacket dresses a thick, firm piece of haddock that lies on a layer of perfectly squared-off chips. Both are lovably crisp and go well with curry sauce and malt vinegar alike, but the mushy peas — usually an afterthought verging on throwaway — are a luminous scene-stealer here.
Slipp says he took great pains to find the right sausage for the bangers and mash. He is bang-on with the final, heavily seasoned selection. A pair of them are sunken into a mound of mashed potatoes that conceal peas. Pour the lush five-onion gravy over the whole thing for a messy, deeply savory delight with just a touch of sweetness.
A Sweet Ending
There are only three desserts on the menu: a Guinness milkshake; the creamy, berry-dotted parfait known as Eton Mess; and sticky toffee pudding. I had a horror story with the last of these at the previous incarnation of Hunter’s Head Tavern, a dry cake drowned in syrupy toffee. My husband called it sticky toffee soup.
The updated version is the opposite. With a silky centerpiece (the warm, cakey “pudding”), there’s just enough toffee sauce to further moisten the already eminently edible dessert. With its deep, dark molasses flavor, it could even turn the heads of guests who usually skip sweets.
A page of the menu at Hunter’s Head reads, “Some come for the hunt. We come for the feast.” There is no hunt necessary to find a memorable repast in Fauquier County now. Whether you’re settling in to a seat at the bar or celebrating a special occasion with a hulking meal, this is the place.
Hunter’s Head
★★★★
See This: The circa-1750 log cabin has been upgraded into a cozy hunting lodge. Sink into a leather seat and enjoy the mostly ’90s, mostly British playlist on the stereo.
Eat This: Scotch egg, Everyday Is Like Sunday, sticky toffee pudding
Appetizers: $15–$22
Entrées: $10–$86
Dessert: $14
Open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Monday.
9048 John S. Mosby Hwy., Upperville
Feature image by Michael Butcher
This story originally ran in our June issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
