Le Bun is a French/American alternative diner that takes time-tested French flavours and revives them through modern, mouthwatering, American-style dishes.

Sample Le Bun‘s signature dish, the mind-blowing Le Bourguignon Buns and groove out to some tasty tunes courtesy of Gilles Peterson and friends at Tuck Shop Summer Carnival, Saturday August 2 at Shapes, Hackney Wick midday to midnight.

Huck spoke to creators Tim Talbot and Andy Taylor to find out about the culture and cooking that inspires them.

Things That Inspire Me

French and American Culture

There is a surprising amount of similarity between French and American culture. About 10% of the population of the USA is of French descent and French is the third most spoken language. The further you delve into Creole and Cajun culture the more similarities you see. Gumbo is a Bouillabaisse using the ingredients that were available locally, whilst the simple Margarita (our drink of choice) has a strong French American backstory. Some of the greatest American icons were and are of Franco descent like Kurt Cobain, Jack Kerouac, Robert De Niro, Beyonce and even Hulk Hogan!

Street Food

The most inspiring thing is the people around us. We have been lucky to introduce ourselves into the street food scene with a lot of support, not only from the organisers of the events we trade at like Street Feast, but also the traders around us. The guys and girls who run Smokestak, Aji Ceviche, Pizza Pilgrims and Busan BBQ (to name a few of many) are all some of the friendliest and most supportive people we could possibly meet.

We’re also massively inspired by the people who decide that today they want to eat at Le Bun. It was almost shocking to us initially, that we had turned an idea we had in our heads into a business where people were queueing to eat our food! Our customers are always giving us incredible feedback and for us the challenge is to keep our standards as consistently high as we have always kept them.

Music

Both our backgrounds are in music, with 20+ years combined in the industry and it has always inspired us to be creative, to take risks and most importantly believe that what we are doing is unique and the best it could possibly be.

The French Laundry

Although we’ve never been to the restaurant, The French Laundry cookbook is a massive influence. Thomas Keller is a genius and sometimes, when looking for inspiration, we find ourselves referencing his book, pushing ourselves to be as creative as Keller would be. His understanding of flavour is unbelievable and the techniques he uses are refined. It really helps us push our boundaries.

Michael Caines

French cuisine is the basis of all great food. It is the absolute foundation of cooking and has such a wide scope of flavours but yet no one in the street food scene seemed to be taking it on. Michael Caines was the french-trained, one-armed chef who taught Andy all his initial cooking knowledge. Ironically, as we want to be introducing our food to people and passing down what we have learnt and developed, Andy has broken his arm. Perhaps the training from Mr Caines could now come in even more useful!

Get your teeth into Le Bun and shake it down to some succulent beats from Gilles Peterson and friends at Tuck Shop Summer Carnival, Saturday August 2 at Shapes, Hackney Wick midday to midnight.