Executive chef Robin Wager is focusing on the "best of the best" seasonal, local produce to create delicious dishes with an experimental bent at ILA's Aurora in Light Square.

We walk into Aurora to interview new executive chef Robin Wagner and are welcomed by the entire team.

Chefs work away in the kitchen as Robin leads us to a table for our chat.

When Aurora’s previous head chef Brendan Wessels talked with InDaily in 2021, he said creating a healthy, non-toxic working environment was an important part of his approach in the kitchen.

Robin wants to foster that same environment, with a “different kind of [hospitality] mindset” regarding the “upcoming generation”.

“Brandon Wessels, he started and created Aurora with the founders – I think that was one of the really, really big main focuses. And I think it’s a really future-generated thing,” he says.

“I see a lot of potential from our current team. There are not many places out there, I think, where you are able to have days where you can start developing or researching things, you know, where you’re having the opportunity to speak up or to be in a position to also present something on a plate.

“I just started five weeks back, but I think it’s definitely something we’re aiming for, and something that I am [aiming] for as well, because it’s something you haven’t had for a very long time.

“I would love to provide that kind of opportunity.”

Robin working his magic

Robin’s chef career began when he was 15 and living in Germany. His resume includes Michelin-starred restaurants like Restaurant Villa Merton in Frankfurt and Vendôme in Cologne.

“Being a chef over there means being in a high-pressure environment. At this time, you had a lot of people that were after your job, or they were after your role, or they were basically after that kitchen environment where I was working,” Robin says.

“If you went for high-end fine dining, you another 10 people behind you that were basically just licking their fingers to get your role.

“You really had to push on, and you had to showcase that you really want to be after that what you applied for, and you need to take a lot of responsibility.

“So you really worked only with those having the same mindset and we’re really after that goal. You’re all together as a team.”

After his time in Germany, Robin was “looking for international restaurants” and deciding between London and Australia. He went with the latter, which saw him land at Sepia and then Lake House Daylesford, before picking up the sous chef position under Scott Huggins at Magill Estate.

“Scott was very transparent. He always gave us opportunities to be creative and standing up for creativity and that kind of purpose,” Robin says.

“The main thing always – [which I] pretty much grew up with in my career – was to treat everyone equally, and at Magill it was luckily the same.”

After four years at Magill Estate, Robin represented Australia at the San Pellegrino Young Chef Academy international finals in Milan – after winning the regional finals in Australia – which gave him “a lot of opportunities”.

Aurora’s mussel dish (left) and the pickled kohlrabi with tomato escabeche (right)

When Robin returned from the competition in Milan he was offered opportunities in kitchens in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. But with a young family, he wanted to stay in Adelaide, which led him to take up this position at Aurora.

“Relocating was one thing, but on the other hand, it’s not ideal. It doesn’t matter [about] the opportunities we’re having in regards to jobs and such things. For me, I like Adelaide. It just gives me all the kind of stuff I would associate with,” Robin says.

“It took me nearly two years now to find the right place where I would say I’m feeling very blessed to work, and where I would consider myself for long term.”

When it comes to menu changes, Robin says he’s taking it at a “slow pace” given the restaurant is about to enter peak holiday season.

“We are a non-profit organisation. So itself, we need to be reliable. We also need to work profitable,” he says.

“I think that’s what most people do not understand: hospitality is a very small and slim margin in regards to being profitable at all.

“For me, firstly, I’m still in my early stage, and I’m very young there. So I have to rely and I need to trust my team at the moment and what they’re capable of to do so.”

Barramundi with turnip cream and black radish

The current menu, and one of Robin’s focuses, considers produce and working “closely with farmers [to] showcase what they’re having”.

“Because if you consider the weather, how it is in Australia itself, we’re having days where it’s really, really hot. We’re having days which are really wet,” he says.

“For me, it’s more important to check the availability in regards to produce with my vegetable and fruit farmers and having a chat [about] what’s possible for several months or several weeks.

“Then I can plan ahead and they also can be prepared for what we will be after, and just being able to showcase the best of the best.”

The newly introduced Immersive Table experience at The Lab allows Robin and his team to prepare a five-course degustation menu that mixes art, light and all senses inside a room filled with 50sqm LED screens that change scenery based on what you’re eating.

Robin sees these events “as an experiment”.

“So from one kitchen side, it’s really nice to see what’s possible for that kind of group,” he says.

“But also on the other hand, what theme we’re going to be after, how noise, light and acoustic just work or react with the senses of a human body, and how you can bring that art with all this digital focus.”

Aurora is located at 63 Light Square, Adelaide and is open from 6pm until late from Wednesday to Saturday.

Connect with the business on Instagram for more, and buy tickets for the next Immersive Table dinner through the website.