A taste of Sāmoa: TALA secures spot among New Zealand’s finest

Contemporary Sāmoan restaurant TALA has been named one of New Zealand’s best, achieving a coveted ranking at the 2025 Cuisine Good Food Awards (CGFA) in Auckland.

Only six restaurants nationwide earned the prestigious 3 Hats this year, placing TALA in an elite group and marking a milestone moment for Sāmoan cuisine. The Cuisine awards describe 3 Hat restaurants as “simply exceptional and the best of the best”.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Henry Onesemo, the Executive Chef and co-owner of TALA, says it feels rewarding to see Sāmoan cuisine becoming a part of the broader conversation about food choices.

“And it's not just going to the night markets now or going to take-away. The groups of people that are having these conversations are getting a lot more diverse now, choosing between Sāmoan, French or Japanese food. It's something that's special to us and one of the goals of opening a Sāmoan restaurant,” Onesemo says.

Amisfield in Queenstown was crowned Restaurant of the Year, while Auckland’s Ahi, Cocoro and Paris Butter, alongside Hawke’s Bay’s Craggy Range, joined TALA in the top tier. The award for TALA is the culmination of years of planning.

Onesemo says the restaurant was intentionally designed to be “Sāmoan specific” rather than adopting a wider Pacific approach. He says this cultural specificity contributes to their authenticity and helps them stand out in the market.

Watch Henry Onesemo's full interview below.

“It puts us in a strong position because I only focus on what I'm good at: Sāmoan food. If we were forced to go down that Pasifika route, I don't know how to do Fijian food or Tongan food. Even though ‘ota 'ika [raw fish dish] is close, it's completely different. I wouldn't be able to do justice to those kinds of cuisines.

“When we tell the stories that come through, because it’s Sāmoan stories, and me teaching the team to do it as well. It becomes a very genuine experience because we're not trying to force a narrative that I haven't experienced.”

TALA, co-owned by Onesemo and his wife Debby, offers unique dining experiences called the “Chef’s Journey” and the “Fāgogo Journey”. The former seats diners at the Chef’s Counter for direct views of the kitchen and interaction with the chefs, while Fāgogo features a slightly shorter menu, with guests seated in the main restaurant.

A range of dishes available at TALA. Photo/Instagram/TALA

Tāla means “story” or “tale”, which fits the bill for TALA’s dining experience, where each dish comes with a story. Onesemo says they cover a range of traditional Sāmoan stories, where some touch on uncomfortable truths.

He says they have a dish that connects to the German occupation of Sāmoa between 1900 and 1914, highlighting how copra, which are dried coconut kernels from which oil is obtained, was one of the biggest industries brought to the Pacific nation during Germany’s occupation.

“With huge plantations like that, they brought in the Chinese and eventually they became forced labour. We tell a story on how that influenced the changes in the food. Some of those changes are my favourite because that's the changes that I grew up with. That's just a sample of one of the stories that we tell.”

Onesemo says diners often respond emotionally to the stories, especially elders who have lived in Aotearoa for decades. He recalls them “tearing up” over how much the experience reminds them of home. Onesemo adds that Sāmoan youth also enjoy the experience.

“We serve them with the apa fafano [bowl of warm, soapy water] so they can wash their hands. They're like ‘Oh my gosh, I've never had the apa fafano served to me before. I'm always the one that has to [serve] it’.”

Onesemo acknowledges that success during tough economic times in the hospitality industry carries weight. He sees TALA’s success as an opportunity to uplift the next generation of Pacific chefs. Onesemo adds that the honour also comes with creating space for others in the culinary landscape.

“We were very careful that when we opened TALA that we don't muck it up for the generation coming up. We intentionally set a price point where TALA creates a gap between TALA’s price point and where the night market and the takeaway [price point],” Onesemo says.

“There's a huge gap in the middle where there's a $50 to $80 range that the next person can create something in there, whether it be a Tongan restaurant or a Fijian restaurant. In that little space that's been created, that person can take off and that's the person to watch out for. They're going to take Pasifika food to the next level and I think I hope it will be [culturally] specific.”