Aulis London names Mark Catchpole its head chef

Mark Catchpole has taken over as head chef of Aulis London, Simon Rogan's twelve-seat chef's table in Soho, succeeding Charlie Tayler.

Umbel Hospitality, Rogan's restaurant group, confirmed Catchpole's appointment at Aulis London this week. He returns to the group after four years at Roganic Hong Kong, where he rose to senior sous chef working under Rogan and Oli Marlow, the group's global executive chef.

A return to the Aulis London kitchen

A four-year detour through Hong Kong ends where Catchpole's ties to Rogan first began.

Catchpole's route to Aulis London runs through some demanding kitchens. He worked across restaurants and hotels in southeast England before joining Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck, where he first met Marlow. In 2017 he moved to Melbourne to work under chef-patron Ben Shewry at Attica, then joined Roganic Hong Kong in 2022.

"I'm incredibly excited to be working with Simon and Oli again and to take on this next chapter at Aulis London," Catchpole said, according to Restaurant Online.

Tayler had led the Aulis London kitchen since 2020 and won the restaurant its Michelin star in 2024. He announced his departure in an Instagram video, saying he is leaving to pursue a project he has not yet named.

Twelve seats and a rotating menu

Aulis London opened in Soho in 2017 with eight seats. A 2023 renovation expanded the counter to twelve, wrapped around an open kitchen on St Anne's Court. The tasting menu changes with the seasons and draws on produce from Our Farm, Rogan's own growing operation in the Cartmel Valley.

The restaurant also works as a testing ground: dishes that hold up at Aulis London sometimes graduate to the menu at L'Enclume, Rogan's three-Michelin-starred flagship in Cumbria. Aulis is Umbel Hospitality's only restaurant in London; the group also runs Skof in Manchester, AO by Daniel Rogan in Southampton, and outposts in Hong Kong, Malta and Thailand.

Catchpole will work alongside Marlow on the menu going forward, the group said. London's dining scene has no shortage of kitchen reshuffles this autumn, but few carry a Michelin star into the handover.

Whether Aulis London keeps that star under new leadership will become clear at the next Michelin Guide update for the city, expected in early 2027.