Rodrigo Santos 🇧🇷🇦🇺

The stuff dreams are made of… ⭐️⭐️

I still remember when, 8.5 years ago, I walked into @magillestaterestaurant for my trial shift and instantly felt like this place had something special. After my trial, I unfortunately found out that my student visa restrictions meant there wasn’t a suitable position available, So I instantly offered to volunteer the extra hours, knowing the learning experience would surpass anything I’d ever experienced before. It was a no-brainer for me; I just wanted to be here.

I started on garnish, picking herbs and tackling the jobs nobody wanted, giving every task the same love and pride as if it were the most important job in the world. People will laugh at your dreams, but don’t listen. Just stay true to who you are and keep doing what you believe in.

From Commis to CDP, Jr. Sous Chef, Head Chef and now Group Executive Chef. I’m living proof that when you work with passion, embrace every opportunity and stay true to what you believe in, incredible things can happen.

Obviously, none of this would have been possible without @scott_huggins1 trust and belief in me, giving me opportunities and watching me grab them with both hands, for this I’m forever grateful to him.

We always talked about how the best chefs in the world say not to chase the stars. And that’s exactly what we did. We never even thought the Guide would make it to Australia, so we just focused on doing what we believed was best for the restaurant, learning from the best around the world and pushing ourselves to be better every day. And on Wednesday night, the stars followed.

To our incredible teams, thank you! This is as much yours as it is ours. To our amazing producers and suppliers, you have a huge part on this!

Still feels like a dream. But we’re only getting started. Onwards and upwards!

#magillestaterestaurant #michelinguide #southaustralia #australia