Founded and operated by Mariana Ladislao and Facundo Arregui, Aurora is the first Argentinian bakery in the country. Named Aurora to honour a national song, it also means the beginning of the day or when the sun rises - which is the perfect time to have a medialuna, also known as an Argentine croissant.
Ladislao and Arregui are both originally from Argentina. Ladislao came from a family of cooks and worked in hospitality most of her adult life. She studied Culinary Arts and Business at Le Cordon Bleu in Wellington and Gastronomy at one of the most renowned cooking schools in Buenos Aires. Ladislao began professionally baking in 2015. Arregui always loved to cook, bake and experiment with fermented foods. He worked in a family business in Argentina making traditional empanadas and began professionally baking in 2020.
"It made us realise there was a niche in the market, and since then, we haven't stopped working!"
In the beginning, Ladislao and Arregui took pastry orders on weekdays and did home deliveries on weekends; they received over 250 orders for the first weekend. As the business continued to thrive, they opened and now co-own Buenos Aires Cafe. In 2020 they opened their own business, Aurora Argentinian Bakery.
Medialunas are one of the couple's favourite things to bake. As one of the most traditional breakfast options, they can be found everywhere in Argentina. The Wellington store's most popular bakery products are anything containing dulce de leche or milk caramel. All of Aurora's bakery products are uniquely Argentinan and can't be found anywhere else in New Zealand.
"The most rewarding aspect for us is when our customers enjoy our products. We wanted to bring a little bit of our culture to New Zealand with our business. Kiwis have taken it extremely well; they now call our products by their Spanish name. Argentinians and Latin Americans generally love that our products make them feel like they are back home; they bring many memories."
Ladislao and Arregui's approach to baking focuses on non-stop growth; they hope to develop their skills daily. The couple spends most of their time working every day, from 4 am to 5 pm, but after hours they pick up their baby from childcare and spend time together as a family.
Some words of wisdom for anyone looking into baking or patisserie are that you need to have a passion and love for it. The job involves some very long and early hours, but seeing the smile on a customer's face is worth it.
"Never give up, and if you really dream about something, just do it!"
