I grew up surrounded by my Polynesian roots, because pretty much everyone living there came over from Samoa back in the day. Porirua is about 15 minutes outside of the Wellington CBD, and is predominantly Māori, Polynesian. It was quite a fun place to grow up. At about age 18, my family moved into Wellington, which has its own vibe entirely. We went from being in a predominantly Polynesian community to being maybe the only Polynesian family in the whole suburb. It was a bit of a culture shock, and that was when I realized that our family was a little different. Suddenly I was more aware of my heritage.

After I finished culinary school, I began working in Wellington with Martin Bosley, who was amazing. I'd set some very lofty goals for myself and wanted to progress in the kitchen and learn as much as I could. The attraction to New York was wanting to be somewhere I would be pushed. The fast pace of the city appealed to me and there were of course Michelin-starred restaurants.

The wonderful thing about New York is the fact that there are so many nationalities living in a compact space. New York City itself is, for the 8 million people living there, actually quite small. For a chef, it’s amazing because you can try so many different cuisines so close together. It really opens your eyes to different flavors, different techniques, different cultures — I wouldn’t have been able to get that experience in Wellington. I don’t even think Auckland would come close to exposing you to all those different ways of approaching food. It’s important when you’re a young chef because there’s a tendency to get cocky really quickly in a kitchen. When you’re in a city like New York, and you’re young and you’re hungry, it’s a good reminder that you don’t know everything. Even when you think you do, you can go two blocks to another restaurant and realize you know nothing about other cuisines. There’s always more to learn.

What I found quite odd, especially after spending a lot of time overseas and opening myself up to the world, was that when I came home, I couldn't find anywhere that was doing Māori or Polynesian cuisine. There was maybe a splash of people using traditional techniques, but in predominantly French-style restaurants. It really begged the question of why nobody had opened a restaurant in Aotearoa that focused on indigenous ingredients and techniques, with a little Polynesian flair. It is such a big part of our history.

There were a lot of nerves and fear when I first decided to take the plunge. I started out by doing pop-ups. I remember thinking, ‘I’ll do a couple of pop-ups and see if anyone's interested. If not, then it was an interesting experiment’. So I went online, put some feelers out there and said, ‘I'm selling tickets to this pop-up. It's going to focus on Māori and Polynesian cuisine’. I thought, I've got 40 tickets for sale, if I sell half, I'll consider that a success. The first pop-up sold out within two hours. It definitely has gone beyond what I could have ever hoped for. From those humble pop-ups to what HIAKAI has achieved now — which is a best-selling and multi-award-winning book, as well as a highly accoladed restaurant  — i'ts quite incredible. Sometimes I do have to stop and appreciate how much we’ve done in five years. It’s kind of phenomenal.

Before you open a restaurant, test your ideas, go and do some pop-ups. It will tell you a lot about what you need to learn and figure out, and what your weaknesses are as a potential business owner. It will also tell you what the feelings are in the market, and you can do that without actually having a lease over your head or any real liability. Then you can refine your idea.

Manaakitanga translates simply as hospitality. It's something we discuss a lot at HIAKAI. But what manaakitanga means to me is hospitality in the sense of kindness and empathy towards others, and being welcoming and treating others as family. And that’s not just for guests, but also for staff. Manaakitanga is almost a way of being. It’s something that I strive towards as a person — to be somebody who is welcoming, empathetic and kind. It’s multi-layered. If you ask another person what manaakitanga means, you'd probably get a different response.

You can wake up in the morning and head for a walk along the waterfront if it’s a sunny day, have some brunch, go to the beach or the Southern Park, and then head somewhere else to see a friend. It's very easy and accessible. I realized I ached for that lifestyle while in New York. When I returned home to New Zealand at the end of 2015, I took a seasonal job at a fly-fishing lodge, of all places. Don't ask me if I know how to fly fish — I still don’t. I was just there for a couple of months as a private chef for the guests that came through. It was summertime on the river, there was a beach, and outdoor activities and everything just had a chilled vibe. It was at this moment that I realised that, yes, this is what I've been missing. This is why home is so great.

It's so quiet. I actually struggled with that the first week I was back. My ears were ringing at night because I was used to sirens and noise outside my New York apartment. But all I could hear was the wildlife, and the birds singing. Sometimes you don't appreciate things until you've been without them for a long time. Then, you come back and think ‘Wow, this is cool, we have all these birds’. It sounds silly, but it was exactly what I needed.

It’s complicated. I love Wellington. I’m Wellington born-and-bred, and I've always been very proud of my city, and the creatives that have come from here, including Peter Jackson, Taika Waititi and the list goes on. It's so compact and easy to get around — if you're new to the city, you don't need a car, because you can literally walk most places or catch a bus and be across the other side of town pretty quickly. But Wellington is changing. Like a lot of cities that are growing, it's definitely becoming a lot harder for young families and creatives to stay in the city. It’s suffering from growing pains. Creativity has put Wellington on the map, but at the same time, these creatives are now having a hard time affording life here.

My partner Katie and I, we like to spend our days off going for bush walks, foraging and just being outdoors. Katie's the General Manager of HIAKAI, so day-to-day we work hectically to get our different parts of the business rolling. So, on our days off we like to get a bit of space from people. It’s during those walks that we probably do our best planning and menu development. We might see onion weed growing or kawakawa berries popping through; nasturtium might be blooming. Or we'll see flowers coming out and start thinking about making it into a cordial for the beverage menu, or turn it into a sorbet for the summer menu. From there we might be inspired to say we’re adding this thing to the menu, or preserving this item in brine or in a syrup to use on the next menu. The landscape inspires the menu through the walks we take and just seeing what's out there.

I love to walk along the waterfront and through Mount Victoria, so I’d start the day with a walk then we’d grab some brunch. There are a couple of places I like going; Loretta on Cuba Street, they always do a solid brunch. Dragons does yum cha, if you want to have a slightly different take on brunch. It’s quite close to the waterfront too, so you can go for a walk, pop in for some yum cha, then go for another walk. It’s a nice way to work off the yum cha. If it’s a Sunday and the Waterfront Markets next to Te Papa [The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa] are on, I'd pop in there, have a peruse, and grab some food from the food trucks. From here, I’d go to Te Whare Toi, our City Gallery, and see what exhibitions are on. It’s always a lot of fun. Then I’d do a bit of shopping. Unity Books is a great bookstore, with a lot of really interesting titles from independent publishers as well as larger publishers. They’re local and they’re really into what they do.

There’s a place called Bar Mason that I really love, and it’s doing some cool tapas-style food and a lot of different natural wines. It's a good place to try some things that you wouldn't normally see on a menu or you wouldn't normally go for. Rasa is a Wellington institution and does the most delicious dosa. It's one of those places I like to go after work on a Tuesday if I can find the time. Ortega Fish Shack has been going for a long time, with good food and great service, and a really extensive and interesting wine list. They have been open for probably close to 20 years now, run by the Limacher family who are really good at what they do — you don't last that long without being bang-on professionals. Mark Limacher, the owner and chef, was actually Ben Shewry from Attica’s mentor back in the day. The family has got long, deep roots in hospitality, and it shows in the level of service.

If you're a beer drinker, or you're just looking for something low-key, Double Vision Brewery out in Miramar has a pizza food truck that parks around the back, so you can get great pizza and beer. They also usually have a live band playing on a Sunday — quite fun. The Malthouse on Courtenay Place — they have a really good selection of beers and gins, so that's a great place to grab a beer and chill out.

There isn't a lot of spare land to grow wine around Wellington, but right over the hill in Martinborough in the Wairarapa, there are a few people doing some pretty cool stuff. There's two vineyards in particular that are ranking as high favorites for me. One is Huntress Wines, which is run by Jannine Rickards, and she is this foraging-hunting force of nature. She’s a very well-respected winemaker who has branched off and started her own line of wines, with very interesting blends  — got a couple on the menu at the moment. There’s another place called Poppies, and they are also making some really delicious wines. If you do have a chance, head for lunch and get their lunch platter with matching wines, which has little bits and pieces they’ve cooked, like pork belly, nuts, marinated olives and it’s all delicious.

I prefer the window because I like to be in my own little space. I put my headphones on and stare out the window or close the blinds and sleep. So, I'm definitely a window person.

Character. 

You need a lot to live here. And a lot of different characters make up the population. We also seem to be obsessed with character homes in Wellington.