Скачать или смотреть Tala - The World's First Fine Dining Samoan Restaurant

Today we're checking out a world first. A fine dining Sāmoan restaurant.

I’ve been waiting for something like Tala to come along - Sāmoan food in an elevated setting. Why has it taken so long for Auckland, the largest polynesian city in the world to produce something like this? That’s a long conversation for another post.

A few chefs have made references to their heritage with the odd dish on a menu but nobody has committed an entire menu to it. Often when trying to elevate a cuisine, a chef risks alienating those who are most familiar. Onesemo has successfully straddled this hurdle. While some of the dishes were, at times alien to me in appearance the moment i bit in to them i could hear family laughing. Cousins fighting. My family eating. It’s one of my favourite things about food, its ability to transport you to a memory. The scent of the umu in the restaurant took me back to Lepea. My uncle Lepou watching over me as i attempted to ‘help’ with the umu. These are memories all Sāmoans share. Will this dining experience be lost on someone who is not Sāmoan or Tagata Moana? No. I was fortunate enough to have the entire restaurant to myself for a couple of hours this evening and what was presented to me was exemplary. The principles of talanoa were strong. Every staff member shared stories and experiences. Onesemo has been very smart in gathering his team. Who would expect there to be a guy from Nepal in the kitchen? Why would you hire a guy from Nepal to cook at a Sāmoan restaurant? Henry was quick to point out that Nepal and Sāmoa have a shared love - chop suey! Tell you now that their chop suey is easily the best i’ve ever had.

I asked Henry when the meal was finished what he was excited for? He calmly and with absolute conviction answered, “The guy who’s next”. That sums it up really. The Sāmoan experience in New Zealand. It was always about who’s next. The next generation and their potential. This is the mark of this humble, caring and proud Sāmoan chef. What he and his wife have given the world in relation to Sāmoan and Polynesian food is a place to excel whilst being steeped in its own proud history. I look forward to who’s next.