A private space
Made just for the Local Talent Tav team. Pop in the passcode we sent you and have a look.
Let's shine a
light on you.
The name is getting around. The write-ups, the reviews, the Hot Grill win. But a lot of the story online is still the old one. We would love to spend a day in here and catch the place, the food and the people as it actually is now, starting with the ones behind it.
We are not pitching you cold. We already love this place.
We eat here. We have shot food for you before, and put together a video. So this is less a proposal and more a question: what if we came in for a day and did it properly?
Nothing big or ongoing to sign up to. Just one session, a half day or a whole day, spent catching what is already good in here and handing it back to you ready to use. A proper batch of photos and video from a single day in the Tav.
Mostly though, we want to point the camera at you. The place has real momentum right now, and the best thing we can do with a day is make sure that when people look you up, they meet who you actually are.
The hardest thing to photograph is the thing worth showing most: the people.
We know stepping in front of a camera is not everyone's favourite. It does not have to be a performance. No stiff poses, no "say cheese". We just work quietly around a normal service and catch you being you, and honestly, you have already been showing up more, and it suits the place.
Here is why it is worth leaning into. There is a real buzz around Local Talent at the moment, and more of it coming. But a lot of what people find online still tells the old story, from before you. A day like this is the simplest way to gently move that on and make sure the faces people meet are the ones actually running it now.
The room, as it really feels
Not a catalogue of plates. The light, the booths, a table filling up, the little details that make walking in feel the way it does. Content someone can feel before they have even booked.
The people behind it
You, the chefs, front of house. The faces that turn a good restaurant into a local. This is the part missing from most of what is online, and the part worth showing most.
The moment you're having
The reviews, the write-ups, the Hot Grill People's Choice win. There is a story building around you. Let's give people something that actually looks like it.
The story was already sitting in the name.
"Local Talent" does not have to mean only the restaurant. The chefs are local talent. So is the team, the growers, the suppliers you already lean on like Omak Meats and Left Fields, the musicians on a live night, the regulars who treat the booth like their lounge, and half the creatives in town.
That gives us somewhere to go every single month without inventing a campaign. There is always another face, ingredient, or local connection worth showing. The question just keeps answering itself: who is the local talent behind this?
Nice photos are the easy part.
These have a job to do.
Scroll-stoppers that reach past your regulars: the plate, the pour, the room at its best. The images that get a share and put you in front of someone new.
The people and the realness that make someone believe it. Faces, hands, a proper look inside. This is where a follower decides you are worth a visit.
The gentle nudge to actually come in: tonight's special, the group table, the "let's go Friday". Content that quietly turns a scroll into a seat.
It is the same framework we use across the studio: anchor, angle, ask. One shoot, pulled apart into a month of posts that each do one of those three jobs.
Isolated, perfect plates have their place. But on their own they cannot answer the questions people actually ask before they choose where to eat. What does it feel like in here? Who is it for? Could I just come for a wine? Would I bring a group?
So we shoot the mix. Food that sells a specific dish, sitting right next to images that simply make someone think, I want to be there. That balance gives you posts you can use tonight while a broader, warmer library builds up underneath.
One session with us, a half day or a whole day, whatever suits. Nothing ongoing to commit to. We come in, work around a normal service, and you walk away with a proper batch of content to use however you like. If you love it, brilliant, we can always talk about doing it again.
And if one day turns into a few
No need to think about this yet. But if the first day goes well and you fancy keeping it up, here is roughly how we would space it out so it never feels like a chore.
All flexible. You will have your own plan and ideas, and this bends around whatever is happening in the restaurant that month.
Warm, a little sun-worn, honestly yours
Mediterranean warmth meets a relaxed Northland pace. Real light, real texture, candid people, never over-polished. We keep it feeling like the place actually feels, not a glossy version of it.
Paper
Good food. Good people.
Local stories.
Somewhere down the line, a small print piece for the tables. Eight or twelve pages, tactile and a bit grainy, more independent neighbourhood zine than glossy magazine. A note from the team, a kitchen story, a supplier feature, a local-talent profile, the regulars, what's on.
You have already built something around local talent and community. This would just be another way to make that visible and hold it in your hand. Not a newspaper you have to run, and only if it feels right. For now it lives here as a possibility, and it feeds everything we shoot regardless.
And on how we settle up
It does not have to be a straight invoice. We are in here enough that a mix could suit everyone: some cash, some worked off against a tab. Let's find a swap that feels fair on both sides. The numbers above are just so you know what a day like this is worth.
These mirror our ongoing content-package rates, nudged up a little because a one-off day costs more to do on its own. Keep it rolling and it settles to the plan price per session, which works out cheaper over time. Either way, nothing to lock into.
Let's do a day
and see.
If it feels right, we will pick a date that suits and go from there. No pressure, no strings. Worst case, we have a lovely lunch and stay your favourite regulars.
We'll fill your feed. You keep filling our plates.