Chefs Oli Marlow and Charlie Tayler on taking Aulis London to the next level
Tell us about the changes at Aulis London
Oli Marlow: We have taken over the site next door to increase the chef table’s size from eight to 12 covers. We have also added a lounge area where guests begin and end their experience.
Charlie Tayler: We are moving to more of a restaurant experience. The setting will be much finer, everything has been upgraded. We have better seating, better lighting, better tableware and a proper sound system. What we had before was great but it was stripped-back and not very well equipped. We didn’t have extraction and the prep and wash-up area was visible to the guests.
How will the expansion and refit change the guest experience?
CT: All the canapes and small bites will be served in the lounge. We only had one big table to seat people before so it could be a bit awkward when people didn’t show up on time. Having a lounge will make things flow much better. The format of the menu will be roughly the same for the moment (around 16 courses) because we need to get used to the new space.
OM: The price of the menu has gone up sightly (from £155 to £175) so we will be able to include more premium ingredients. Dishes on our launch menu include truffle pudding caramelised in birch; crab on roasted chicken skin, oxalis, and horseradish vinegar; and west coast Turbot, black beauty courgettes, lovage and smoked bone sauce.
How often does the menu change?
CT: Very regularly. We're closely connected to the group’s farm in Cumbria so the produce we have available is always changing. It helps us keep moving forward. It's a very natural way of doing things – when strawberries stop coming down from the farm they come off the menu.
What are your respective remits within Simon Rogan's Umbel Restaurant Group?
OM: As executive chef I'm responsible for everything outside of the Lake District (the majority of Rogan's operation in Cumbria is overseen by Tom Barnes, who also holds the job title of executive chef). I spend at least half the year abroad overseeing our international sites and events. We have four sites in Hong Kong including Roganic and Aulis. I've just overseen the launch of ION Harbour in Malta.
CT: I’ve been leading the kitchen at Aulis London as head chef since 2021. Aulis London closed late last year. I’ve spent the past six months or so working across the Umbel Restaurant group, including a stint running Aulis in Hong Kong.
OM: Charlie never misses a service, it’s important that there is a consistent presence here. I occasionally cook at Aulis as it's a good way to see what's going on. I tend to take a backseat. I often pretend I’m a chef de partie. Charlie, myself and Simon all have input into the menus.
Presumably increasing the amount of covers by a third means more staff?
OM: Yes. In the old Aulis we had a team of three (Tayler, a sous chef and a restaurant manager/sommelier). We now have a team of five having added two chefs. Charles Carron Brown remains our only front of house person, but in a way everyone at Aulis is front of house.
CT: It means I can reduce everyone’s hours. The plan is to mimic what the kitchen team do at L'Enclume. Staff work 3.5 days on and 3.5 days off. We won't be doing more than 50 hours a week, which is not bad at all for this level.
Unlike the Aulis restaurants in Cartmel and Hong Kong, Aulis London is standalone. How does this affect its operations?
OM: It affects everything. The two other Aulis restaurants share the same staff, tableware and in some cases dishes with the restaurants to which they are attached. Aulis London is out on its own. It makes it harder for the team because they are responsible for all aspects of its operation and can't share basics with a larger kitchen. There might not be many covers here, but there is a lot to do.
What does it take to run a dining experience like Aulis?
OM: It takes a certain sort of chef. Charlie spent time in Japan working in restaurants with a similar diner-facing setup. I spent most of my career hidden away in kitchens having limited contact with guests so it's quite new to me. It can be a shock for people when they are right in front of the guests and are getting asked questions while multitasking.
CT: I’ve always worked in kitchens where there has been a lot of contact with guests. Not every chef can cook and entertain as well. It's essentially a hybrid between a back and front of house role. You have to be very organised. At Aulis, prep time is crunch time. The service has to be the easy bit. If we’re running around it won’t be relaxing for the guest. We get a lot of comments about how calm everything is.
Aulis was originally billed as a development kitchen. Why has the group moved away from this?
CT: We were concerned that guests might think they were guinea pigs. Everything we serve has been fully-developed, signed off by both Oli and Simon and wine matched by Charles. It's a fully-finished product.
Where does Aulis sit in the overall hierarchy of the group?
OM: A dish you could get at Aulis you could get at L'Enclume and vice versa. Aulis is a luxury restaurant but it’s more interactive. It’s aimed at guests that want to be that little more involved and see some of the processes and have more one-to-one time with the staff. We do want a Michelin star (L'Enclume was recently awarded three stars), but it's not the be all and end all. We opened the bookings until December and we're now almost full for that period. We don't judge our success on accolades.
