Tala — the Samoan word for 'story' or 'tale' — is chef Henry Onesemo's deeply personal retelling of his homeland through food. Opened in Parnell in November 2023 after beginning life as a pop-up in 2022, it is what the restaurant calls the world's only Samoan fine dining experience: ingredients and dishes from Samoa's villages, road stalls and Henry's own childhood, reimagined, revisited and refined with modern techniques, and served with fa'a Samoa — Samoan hospitality.
Dinner at Tala is built around menu 'Journeys' — the Chef's Journey and the Fāgogo Journey — multi-course tastings that travel from oka (coconut-marinated raw fish) and the prized palolo through roadside BBQ, umu chicken cooked in the traditional earth oven, pani popo and koko Samoa, before a namesake finale course called TALA.
Recognition has come quickly: Tala was named Best New Restaurant in 2024, awarded Three Hats (19/20) by Cuisine in 2025 — placing it among New Zealand's top six restaurants — and named Supreme Winner in the Viva Top 50 Restaurants 2025, while Henry earned One Knife at The Best Chef Awards in Milan. Find it at 235 Parnell Road; the entrance is down the walkway at the back.
Tala means "story" or "tale" in Samoan — and storytelling is exactly what happens inside this dimly lit, candle-lit dining room on Parnell Road. For chef Henry Onesemo, Tala is where he tells his own tales of Samoa: ingredients and dishes drawn from the country's villages and road stalls and from his own childhood, reimagined, revisited and refined with modern technique. The restaurant describes itself as the world's only Samoan fine dining restaurant, and its stated dream is simple: "to show Samoan food in a new light," introduce guests to fa'a Samoa — the Samoan way — and share Samoan hospitality.
Henry Onesemo's passion for food started young. Growing up in Samoa, he helped in the kitchen as a child and remembers early Sunday morning trips to the fish market with his dad to prepare the umu, the traditional Samoan earth oven, before church. His path then wound overseas: he lived and worked in Hawaii and Florida — where he met his wife Debby — before returning home to Samoa to train as a chef. Later came time at Auckland's Meredith's and a stint at Gaa in Bangkok, where traditional Indian food was presented in a Michelin-starred setting.
The COVID pandemic brought Henry back to New Zealand. He and Debby launched Tala as a pop-up concept in 2022, and in November 2023 they opened the current restaurant in Auckland's Parnell.
Menus at Tala are called Journeys, and there are two to choose from: the Chef's Journey and the Fāgogo Journey. Both unfold as a sequence of courses named for the food of Samoa — oka, the classic raw fish marinated in coconut; palolo, the island's prized reef delicacy; pisupo; panikeke; roadside BBQ with its smoky, stall-inspired grilling; and umu chicken, cooked the way Henry watched it prepared as a boy. The sweeter chapters bring pani popo rolls baked in coconut milk, pavlova, and koko Samoa, the country's traditional drinking chocolate, before a finale course simply named TALA.
The cooking leans on tradition — earth oven, open flame, leaves and smoke — while presentation is precise and contemporary. Details like a table-side hand-washing ritual and drinks served in coconut shells underline that this is hospitality the Samoan way.
The accolades have arrived quickly for such a young restaurant. Tala was named Best New Restaurant in 2024, then awarded Three Hats (19/20) by Cuisine in 2025, making it one of the top six restaurants in New Zealand. The same year, Henry received One Knife at The Best Chef Awards in Milan, and Tala was named Supreme Winner in the Viva Top 50 Restaurants 2025.
"Our dream has always been to show Samoan food in a new light," Henry says. On the evidence of the dining room — black tables, candle centrepieces, an open hearth and a quietly confident kitchen — that dream is being told one course at a time.
Tala sits at 235 Parnell Road; the entrance is tucked away, down the walkway at the back of the building. Dinner is served Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30pm to 9pm, with lunch (12pm to 2pm) added on Friday and Saturday before evening service from 5:30pm to 9pm. The restaurant is closed Sunday through Tuesday. Reservations can be booked through the website, and gift cards are available. Street parking runs along Parnell Road, with St John's Car Park at 244 Parnell Road nearby. Come hungry — a Journey is meant to be taken in full.