Coffee shop aims to feel ‘like home’
Most Kiwis will recognise the phrase ta¯ tou ta¯ tou from the song Tu¯ tira Mai Nga¯ Iwi.
It means ‘‘all of us’’ – to bring all of us together – which is just what two Christchurch cafe owners hope to do.
Tonya Marriott and Joseph Bowen wanted to create a space that would bring people together and feel like home, particularly for Ma¯ ori and Pasifika.
It’s called Ta¯ tou, and it’s not your typical coffee shop. A warm ‘‘haere mai’’, a good coffee, plant-based kai and mahi toi (Ma¯ ori artwork) can be expected when you walk through the door in Papanui.
The shop is a collective that 14 friends contribute to, selling items such as natural skincare, pounamu carvings, jewellery and artwork.
‘‘Everything here is made by hand, it has a whakapapa. I can tell you where it comes from, I can tell you the people that made it. It’s all traceable,’’ Marriott said.
The group wanted to veer away from the market scene and move everything into one shop to be more accessible.
Marriott envisioned the shop as a homeaway-from-home for people. ‘‘I would love Ta¯ tou to be the space that people think of if they need to come and get some kawakawa. I want for us to learn off each other and just connect with each other,’’ she said.
Marriott had been in the hospitality industry for 18 years and noticed Ma¯ ori and Pasifika people did not come through the doors as much, so she decided to create a space that was familiar and ‘‘feels like home’’.
Her industry experience began with working in hotels with her mother. She later moved to Australia and managed a juice bar.
When she returned to New Zealand, Marriott got a job as a waitress and worked at various coffee shops.
During her time working in cafes she discovered vegetables she ‘‘never knew existed’’.
‘‘I was a girl from Aranui who grew up on mince stew and sausages. I didn’t know half of the veges.’’
Bowen introduced her to a plant-based diet, which she had now followed for seven years.
Ta¯ tou’s plant-based kai included re¯ wena
bread on Fridays – a traditional Ma¯ ori bread made with a potato starter or ‘‘bug’’’ that ferments. The ‘‘bug’’ she uses is 63 years old. ‘‘It’s food with whakapapa.’’
Marriott’s previous job was at Spooky Boogie in Lyttelton where she was inspired by the shop’s combination of serving coffee, selling jewellery and hosting art exhibitions.
Ta¯ tou opened in November and Marriott and Bowen had found starting up a new business during a pandemic challenging to say the least.
‘‘It’s been an emotional hard time, but this is kaupapa driven. It’s not about money. We’re just going to try everything to keep our doors open,’’ Marriott said.
‘‘I want people to come in, take a load off, leave all troubles at the door and just come and be with each other.’’