Top globe-trotting chef Adam Wolfers returns to Sydney to lead kitchen at two-hatted Aalia

Chef Adam Wolfers has been lured back to his hometown of Sydney, stepping into the giant-sized kitchen clogs of 2025 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Chef of the Year Paul Farag as executive chef at the two-hatted Aalia restaurant.

Farag, who resigned last month, is a hard act to follow at Martin Place’s Aalia, with his talent for cooking elevated Middle Eastern food once likened to “swapping a mono speaker for seven-channel surround sound”.

Aalia co-owner Ibby Moubadder said he immediately thought of Wolfers as a replacement for Farag, and hopped straight on a plane to try to lure him home. “I still remember a beef brisket pastrami with pickles Adam cooked about eight years ago. I’m a big fan, I’ve eaten at all his restaurants,” Moubadder said.

The move is part of the Sydney kitchen shuffle, with long-standing chef Alex Prichard moving on from Icebergs Dining Room, and Peter Gilmore ending a 24-year run at the recently closed Quay restaurant.

Wolfers, who started his career at Peppercorn in Cremorne before working at A-list Sydney restaurants including est., Marque, Monopole and Yellow, took flight for WD-50 in New York City and Quique Dacosta in Spain. He eventually settled in Brisbane, where he showed his talent for Middle Eastern-edged cooking at Gerard’s. He also recently worked as group chef across Fortitude Valley venues Agnes, sAme sAme and Bianca. On the road to recovery from a stroke four years ago when he was just 38, Wolfers didn’t have Sydney on his radar when Moubadder came knocking.

But the lure of Aalia won out, and the north shore-raised chef is in Sydney this week to start work on the restaurant’s direction. Wolfers’ tabouli made with broccoli will get some airplay, and he’s already working on a Yemeni-style mulawah, a traditional flatbread. There’ll also be skewers with different types of offal. He’s also embraced the Aalia brief of focussing on lesser-known and niche Middle Eastern and North African dishes and stories.

“I don’t want to come in and change the whole menu,” Wolfers said. “Paul is a sensational chef, I’m stepping into an incredible venue, we want to keep it at that top-tier level.”

Moubadder said they would tread carefully with any menu shift over the coming months. He estimates about 70-80 per cent of dishes will eventually be switched. “I’ve always said if you’re changing dishes, make sure it’s better or equally good.”

“Adam’s food is full of flavour,” Moubadder said. And he’s confident Wolfers will bring his own imprint to Aalia. “Even if two chefs cook the same thing, they’re different.”

As for Farag, he said his immediate plans post-Aalia included taking some time off for travel before looking at opportunities for his next move.

For his part, Wolfers said his stroke taught him a lot about how to best channel his workaholic tendencies. “I’m really looking forward now,” he said.

Wolfers kept his hand in the Sydney market over the years with his Etelek pop-ups, but has some mixed feelings about his Sydney return after living in Brisbane. “I miss my friends and family [in Sydney], but I haven’t missed the traffic. And I love the way people in Brisbane stop in the street to say hello.”