Restaurant Association Of New Zealand

Our mission is to be the link between good food and good business so that your restaurant or cafe can find greatness.

The Restaurant Association of New Zealand (Te Tao Roa) had humble beginnings. Back in 1972 it was known as the Restaurant and Cabaret Association and had a membership of 20 with a part-time secretariat.

Nowadays, we have members covering the length and breadth of the country and we represent every facet of the restaurant and hospitality industry.

The meaning behind Te Tao Roa

Te Tao Roa is a reference to a saying used in Māori that refers to feasts and great dining.

There was a time when all the cooking was done outside the whare nui in long, deep and open fires (umu).

Because these fires were so hot, food was typically placed on spears (tao) so it could be cooked without burning the hands of the cooks.

The longer the spear, the more a particular marae could feed, the more people that could be fed, the more mana the cooks had.

A way of thanking cooks now is to refer to them as tao roa, or long spears. Referring to them in this way suggests they are of great status and prestige.

These words were chosen for the The Restaurant Association of New Zealand, because the Association caters to hospitality around the country, that is, its spear is quite ‘long’.

For that reason, tao roa seems quite fitting as a Māori name with dual meanings.

The Association is organised into 12 regional branches and a national office housed in a building in Mt Eden owned by the Restaurant Association Education Trust and run by a full-time staff.