White tablecloths aren’t exactly on-brand for the laissez-faire postcode of London Fields – or at least they weren’t until Auguste arrived.
Named for the sad, smoking clown in Edward Hopper’s 1914 painting, Soir Bleu, the restaurant is “all about contrast and emotion,” co-founder and general manager, Dylan Walters (ex-Bambi), tells Broadsheet. “It’s about having fun. You’re eating meat off sticks, getting a bit messy, and then there’s a white tablecloth underneath it. It plays into the whole concept. It’s theatre.”
Situated in what was once Papi, Walters and co-owner (and head chef) Mike Bagnall’s new “unconventional Italian” restaurant revolves around a lesser-known facet of the country’s cuisine: arrosticini. The skinny, flame-grilled skewers – usually made with mutton or lamb – are an affordable staple of central Italy’s Abruzzo region, often stripped standing up with a glass of wine in hand.
For Bagnall, who grew up with an Italian family and spent time in the region, “It’s a nice way to eat. I’m not a very formal person. I want to eat with my hands, get a little bit on my face.” Walters agrees. “We’re encouraging people to do that in the restaurant,” he says. “I don’t think you should be judged while you’re trying to enjoy something.”
Eschewing the traditional four-course format of most Italian trattorias, arrosticini will be at the centre of the menu. Alongside the lamb – which will shift from younger cuts to mutton with the appropriate seasons – Bagnall is grilling everything from Wagyu to liver and wild boar, with plans to expand further into offal and veggies. “There’s no rules for us,” he says. “We just let the menu change and flow as we want.”
More broadly, the pair describe their ethos as “pastoral cooking” or “shepherd food” shaped by the rhythms of the land. In practice, that translates to what Walters describes as a “symbiotic ecosystem”, where “guests can drink Pecorino from the region alongside DOP Pecorino cheese [made by sheep who feed on pecorino grapes].
Bagnall is keen to state that they don’t take themselves too seriously, though. “Everything that is on [the menu] is a little bit clowny, a bit camp. There are lots of little sauces that are bubbly and colourful … everything is very zingy and zesty,” he says. “We don’t like this cookie-cutter idea of a restaurant.”
While the food takes its cues from central Italy, the aperitivo list hails from Milan. Walters haggled with the folk at Campari to enable him to serve a bargain £5 Camparino – a spritz featuring the bittersweet aperitif, soda and lemon oil, served in frozen glassware.
The wine list, meanwhile, is around 65 per cent Italian, with a focus on low-intervention bottles from small producers. “It’s an east London-style wine service,” says Walters. “It’s about drinking wine throughout your meal and the staff telling you about the story of the wine rather than just the grape or place.”
So, is Auguste another east London small plates and natty wine destination? Despite the fact that Walters describes the front of house team as “small plates royalty”, they’re keen not to be boxed in. “We don’t want to market ourselves as that,” says Walters. “It’s a thing that’s existed for a lifetime before people started branding it,” Bagnall adds, laughing. “God forbid you sit down and share a dish with someone.”
Instead, their priority is pleasing anyone who’s interested in food. “I’d love to be your favourite restaurant’s favourite restaurant,” says Bagnall.
There’s more to come, too. Downstairs, the team is preparing to open “a tiny little hideaway,” designed for late-night drinks and lighter snacks. Will it inherit some of the wild, raucous energy of the downstairs bar at Papi? “We’ll be having fun… we’ll be dancing and having parties. Papi was exceptional, but there won’t be strawberry Nesquik daiquiris. There’ll be classy drinks and good DJs. It’s going to be a different kind of fun.”
Auguste
373 Mentmore Terrace, E8 3DQ.
Hours:
Wed & Thu 5.30pm–10.30pm
Fri 5.30pm–11pm
Sat midday–4pm, 5.30–11pm
