We’re huge fans of Simon Rogan – his three Michelin-starred L’Enclume is up there with our best meals of all time, and we were sad when his excellent London restaurant Roganic shut its doors. So news that Aulis, his London chef’s table restaurant, had reopened with more seats was music to our ears. The restaurant in St Anne’s Court, Soho has doubled in size and now has 12 seats as well as a lounge for pre- and post-dinner drinks (we’re secretly hoping they might allow you to book the lounge for snacks too if you don’t have time for the full tasting menu experience….)
Head Chef Charlie Tayer is still looking after the stoves alongside wingman Oli Marlow, Simon’s Exec Chef for the group. The tasting menu, based around British ingredients, uses produce from Simon’s own Lake District farm and tries to be as sustainable as possible, replacing citrus for vinegars and the like, because citrus fruits don’t really grow in England do they – not for now, at least!
We were one of the first through the door and can vouch it’s as good as, if not better, than before. The meal kicked off with some incredible snacks, like the pig and eel donut; crispy chicken skin with Cornish crab; and of course, the signature cheese and truffle pudding alongside some Oxney organic English fizz, who is, fun fact, the largest producer of organic English sparkling wine.
Other standout dishes were the crab bone custard with rosehip vinegar and marinated trout roe; the peas from Simon’s farm served with beef tendons in broth; and a delicious spin on a cheese course, the frozen Tunworth cheese with truffle honey and hazelnut.
For a tasting menu experience in London that’s well worth the money (£175 a head) Aulis might just be the most failsafe option there is. Brilliant cooking, interesting wines and just enough story telling to keep you interested but not send you to sleep. All you need to do now is score yourself a seat.
16 St Anne’s Ct, London W1F 0BF
aulis.london
Photo credit: Cris Barnett