Walk into Modaks Espresso and try to order a quarter-strength decaf trim latte, and you are likely to get a blank stare from behind the counter.
But ask for a kawhe with miraka, and you will get instant service.
This week, the Dunedin cafe implemented its new te reo Maori menu, and owner Jack Bradbury said customers were loving it.
"People have made a sound about it — they’re into it, which is good. It’s positive."
The cafe had been a landmark in Dunedin among coffee connoisseurs for about 30 years, but he recently decided it was time for change.
"It just seemed to me like it’s something that should be done.
"We get quite a lot of people asking why we did that.
"But it’s a bit of a non-question though, because it should be normal — it should be standard."
He said inspiration came from his travels around the world, particularly Wales, where everything was written in Welsh, followed by an English translation.
"That’s an incredible thing to have done.
"That should really be the case here, too. It would be quite cool if the whole country [New Zealand] did it too — road signs, the lot.
"It’s about ensuring the survival of the language."
Mr Bradbury said the change was not designed to celebrate Waitangi Day. Rather, it was coincidence.
It had been 18 months in the making because it took quite a long time to find someone who would translate the menu into Maori.
"Anyone can go into Google and go ‘let’s just have a crack at this’, but it has to be right.
"Some of the [English] words don’t even translate. We needed someone who knows what they’re doing.
"It was surprisingly a bit of a needle in a hay stack type situation."
Eventually he found He Waka Kotuia Trust leader Komene Cassidy.
Mr Bradbury said the menus would be permanently available in both English and Maori.
"So if we change a dish, we’ll just email Komene and he’ll translate for us.
"The more we hear it and the more we see it, hopefully the more we speak it and pronounce it properly, too."
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Comments
Don't know what parts of Wales Mr Bradbury has been to...
What an awesome article..te reo Maori being embraced. Warms my heart. Mihi kau ana ki a koe e te rangatira mo too mahi whakahirahira. Mo nga ra kei te haere, ko nga mahi penei he mahi hei whaka piri, hei tu honohono, tatou nga hunga o tenei whenua kia kotahi. Koinei te mana, te ihi, te wehi, o te reo,
Huge respect to you Mr Bradbury for embracing our (yours, mine, New Zealands) language. It is actions (mahi) like this that we may look back on as a catalyst to help bring us all together as a people under the umbrella of Te Reo.