Austrian-born chef Andreas Gober’s career has taken him all over the world – his early years were spent working in Austria and Switzerland, then he was bitten by the travel bug and joined Crystal Cruise lines for two years.
He moved here after marrying his Australian-born wife and along with working in Fenix, Crown and Etihad stadium in Melbourne has enjoyed stints in Fiji, Qatar and Bahrain. Since December Andreas has been heading up the team at the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria), where he gets to produce “art on a plate” across its restaurant, cafes, tea room and numerous high end functions held throughout the galleries.
Looking back on his diverse career, Andreas believes the key to his success has been his willingness to constantly innovate and stay open to new experiences. “At each step of my journey I’ve tried to embrace new opportunities and go in new directions, and I’ve picked up new skills and new insights each time,” he says. “When you’re lucky enough to have had the opportunity to be mentored and advised by some inspiring leaders, that can expand your knowledge base and broaden your horizons. You’re then able to take those learnings with you to your next job.”
These lessons weren’t just learnt in the kitchen – Andreas explains he was originally knocked back from studying hospitality and tourism because he hadn’t learnt English at school, so he did three years of engineering instead. “That was helpful because it gave me a good understanding of linear thinking and the importance of having everything in order, which is imperative when you’re running a kitchen,” he says. “I also spent a few years in the Army which instilled a sense of duty: if you have to do something, you might as well give it 100 per cent and do it right.
He was also fortunate enough to begin his apprenticeship at one of the best restaurants in his Austrian hometown – “The gentlemen who took me on was phenomenal, his flavours and combinations were just unreal for me and a great inspiration. He told me, don’t be afraid to put anything together – just follow your instincts and if you think it works, nine times out of ten it does. But try it first, don't serve it straight away to a guest! And that's stood me in good stead ever since.”
Andreas knew from the outset that he wanted to work in Michelin star restaurants with the best possible ingredients. “I’m all about matching quality produce with contemporary style dishes to deliver a total experience,” he says. “Where the ingredients originate is just as important as the finished product.”
His first opportunity to realise this goal came when he was on the opening team of the Crystal Serenity cruise ship – “the food was absolutely outstanding, at one stage it was rated six stars and was probably the best food on the seas at the time, 17 or 18 years ago now. It was also terrific training because on a cruise ship you really learn to work – you’re there for four months without a break and you work 13 or 14 hours a day! It’s gruelling but after a while you get used to it, because everyone around you is working as well.”
Upon marrying his Melbourne-born wife, Andreas relocated here and after a couple of years got to work with high end Australian cuisine for the first time under Gary Mehigan at Fenix. This was followed by a job at Crown as a sous chef under Michael Bannerman before he got his big break running Breezes at Crown. “That was the first time I got to do my own food and it worked out really well,” Andreas recalls. “Working at Crown was a terrific experience, it opened up a lot of networks for me in Australia and actually taught me how to run a business – even though it wasn’t my own restaurant, I learned how to make a success of any food venture.”
Andreas’ Crown contacts brought him overseas work opportunities – such as the chance to run the Westin and Sheraton villas in Fiji. “That was a real eye opener with regard to freshness of product, because we had our own garden – you pick your own vanilla, passionfruit, it was absolutely unbelievable.”
After two years in Fiji he moved to Qatar as executive sous chef of the St Regis which had been voted best business hotel in the world. “It was just a different world to be honest - if the cruise ship was six stars this was probably seven or even seven and a half. And it fell in exactly with what I wanted to do – no matter what the guest wants, you can get it for them. This is how I learnt that’s nothing impossible - if you work hard enough and have enough resources, you can achieve pretty much anything.
“We cooked for numerous heads of state, and what I took from that experience was that they’re only human, they appreciate good food as much as the rest of us. So now when I have someone high profile coming in, I know they’re just a person. Of course you still do your best, but because you don’t have that pressure or that anxiety about cooking for them, you don’t make mistakes and it’s easier to perform at your best.”
Upon coming back to Australia, Andreas worked at Etihad stadium where he was able to “do some amazing food and learn to execute four, five, six or seven functions at the same time while there’s a game of thirty or forty thousand going on behind you. That really teaches you to multitask and our GM was instrumental in showing how everything should be done.”
His current position at the NGV gives him the opportunity to showcase the best of Victoria’s produce. “We try to have 100 per cent Victorian sourced ingredients - unfortunately it’s not possible all the time but as long as it’s Australian and it doesn’t have to travel for long, that’s the main thing. When you’re using quality local produce you can actually taste the difference.
“I started on the 2nd December and we opened on the 15th and we had to build a brand new team because of Covid. The shorter lockdowns we’ve had since haven’t affected us too badly – I think as soon as you go into lockdown, people immediately want to get out, they start thinking about what they’re missing and what they want to experience, so as soon as lockdown finishes the business bounces back. After two or three days we were back up to the same amount of business again – though of course we’ve had to adjust for social distancing restrictions.”
His advice to younger chefs looking to build a career in high end cooking is “never be afraid to try new things, because each step gives you more knowledge. It’s funny - back home in Austria you have different breeds of chefs: restaurant, hotel, event chefs and the guys don't want to venture outside that. What I found is that if you try everything, you can pick up so much. Some people don’t want to do events, but learning to do events will only help you run your restaurant better - because you’ll know when you have a large table, this is how you can serve it and make it work.
“I’ve always thought with my large functions that I want to serve restaurant quality food, and that’s what we achieve now, because it is possible. And the other point is you have to be passionate: especially about your ingredients, because you can't really get good end product with crappy produce. That's the thing: you're only as good as your ingredients.
“That’s the focus for me, because it has to taste great. One thing I don't do is subtle flavours - if it’s supposed to taste like blackcurrant, it will taste like blackcurrant. That's one thing we always make sure about!”
