Charlie Tayler on leaving Aulis London for The Poet

Discussing his journey at Aulis, Charlie said: “I came in almost fresh out of the pandemic, from being on furlough from The Westbury hotel. They announced they were going to close their doors and stop the furlough scheme, so I wanted to find a job.

"A friend of mine told me about the position on LinkedIn, and I reached out to Oli, sent a CV, did the trial shift and all that kind of stuff.

"It was a much different beast. It was a much different space then.

“It was a smaller restaurant, eight seats, a tiny little kitchen, almost the same quality as my domestic home kitchen.

“The first day I went there on my trial shift, trying the food and seeing what the guys were producing out of that space, I was pretty amazed by it. I wanted to be a part of that and I wanted to run it.

"Coming from a background of almost 15 years plus in Michelin environments, and being appointed head chef in that tiny little eight-seat restaurant, it was a dream and a goal and an ambition of mine to help the team and the company achieve that accolade in such a small space."

He added: “We had that space for about two years, and then we did a huge refurbishment. The business next door, a tanning shop, decided to sell, so we knocked through, basically.

"It took six months for the refurb, so in that time I was doing various things across the company. Running Aulis in Hong Kong for a couple of months, running Aulis in Cartmel for a month or so, spending time in the kitchen up at L'Enclume, and spending as much time as I could on the farm.

“Just being completely submerged and involved in all the operations up in the Lake District, which I didn't really have much to do with before.

"After the six months the restaurant was ready and we opened, in the summer of 2023. And then we achieved the Michelin star in the next Michelin guide, seven months later.

"Eight seats to 12 seats was actually quite a big change. It felt like opening a new restaurant, it didn't feel like just a refurb.

"It was tough, but most restaurant openings are tough. I also had an incredible team surrounding us, and Oli was a huge part of that. Every restaurant he touches, everything he's a part of, is always incredibly successful.

“He's a huge part of everything, from designing the restaurant to helping build the team to pushing the standards to the rest of the company.

“To be part of that company and part of that incredible talent within the industry, all with the same goal, all striving to be the best and looking after the guests the best way possible, producing the best food and using British produce and ingredients from the farm - I'm definitely going to look back and think it's the highlight of my career thus far."

Charlie Tayler: Mark Catchpole can drive Aulis to two Michelin stars

Mark Catchpole steps into Charlie’s shoes, already well versed in how things work across the Simon Rogan group.

“I first met Mark at Aulis in Hong Kong, when I spent a few months out there,” Charlie explained.

“He was sous chef there for the best part of four and a half years, very much the senior chef, almost running the kitchen alongside Adam (Catterall), the head chef, very closely.

"It's amazing to see him finally step up and go to that position that he deserves.

“I'm looking forward to seeing him put his own stamp on it, because obviously he's got incredible experience.

"I think it's exciting for a new head chef to go into a restaurant, and I think it's exciting for the restaurant. Every head chef has been a part of the journey of every restaurant moving forward. It's not just the person at the helm at that time. Restaurants go through journeys, and it's something that's constantly polished and getting better.

"I firmly believe that can be a two-Michelin-star environment.

“With Oli there, Simon still overlooking everything and Mark at the helm, that's definitely something I want that restaurant to still achieve, even if I'm not running the show.

“I think they're very much capable of it."

Charlie Tayler’s role at The Poet in Farringdon

Charlie is now working behind the scenes to get everything ready for a very different challenge, at The Poet.

“It's part of a huge project over in Farringdon, with some incredible hospitality people - Honey Spencer, Charlie Sims and Spencer Large, who run Sune over in east London,” he said.

• Read more: Sune appoints Fabien Spagnolo as head chef

"Incredible wine knowledge coming from Honey, being one of the best natural wine sommeliers in the country, and she's written a best-selling wine book. Charlie and Spencer are incredible front of house with what they've achieved, Spencer having headed up the Akoko group and Charlie spending a good stint at Noma back in the day as GM.

"Between the four of us, I feel like we've got a really exciting project. It's ambitious. There are four floors and every floor is a different concept.

"The building itself is a pub, as traditional a Victorian-style pub boozer as you can get, on the ground floor. We're going to have a 45-seat pub restaurant, serving elevated great pub food, but to the standard I've been working at for the best part of my career.

"And then up in the roof there's going to be an incredible cocktail bar called Shambles. It's a really cosy space, lots of different alcoves. There's actually an old turret up there, which will be one of the rooms. It's a stunning space, I can't wait to share it with everyone.

"And then there's a little hidden floating mezzanine floor, which will be a fine dining 10-seater chef's table."

He added: “Going from 12 seats to around 100 is definitely a change, and operating over different floors.

“It's 100 per cent daunting, but I'm incredibly excited to embark on this journey with the people I'm going into the project with.

“It would be daunting and borderline impossible by myself, but with the support of the team, I think it's going to be something very special."