Hospitality mogul Tai ‘Buddha’ Graham has built an empire of bars, restaurants and clubs in Bali that continues to grow. Along the way, he has discovered serendipitous synergies between Māori and Balinese culture, writes Andrew Glenn.
Striding into Sisterfields — the perennially popular Seminyak cafe he co-owns — Tai “Buddha”
“I love concept first and foremost. I think that is the utmost important thing everything derives from. Without a strong concept, all the other things that support it are just going to be okay,” he says of his passion for creating some of Bali’s most popular hotspots. “I love brand, and when I say brand, I mean [everything] from the music to the lighting, to the glassware, to the uniforms and the socks and the Instagram and our ads. Every single little detail.”
Tai’s attention to detail and fearless vision have created some of Bali’s most iconic watering holes: Single Fin, a 1000-capacity surfer magnet on Uluwatu with legendary Sunday sessions; The Lawn, a stylish Canggu beach club buzzing since 2015; Times Beach Warung, a charmingly rustic beach eatery that fills with surfers at 6am seeking the best waves at sunrise; and Skool, his art-filled beachfront restaurant that feels like a sophisticated penthouse overlooking the beach.
Last year, Tai joined forces with successful Bali restaurateur Adam McAsey — the man behind Sisterfields, Bossman Burgers and Sibling Espresso and Bakery — to create Project Black, their lifestyle-focused hospitality brand “where design, music, art, surf and street connect to food and drinks, setting a new standard for hospitality across the island”. In their respective roles as “director of feels” and “director of food”, their merger combines Tai’s passion for creating incredible spaces and Adam’s ability to deliver culinary excellence.
A man of many hats, Tai is not just a beach club impresario but a professional surfer, sponsored by Billabong and Channel Islands Surfboards. His love of being on the water informs every aspect of his hospitality vision, taking inspiration from surf, skate, art, music and street culture, and above all gathering people together for good times.
Tai, 41, was born in Aotearoa New Zealand, with ancestry from Northland; his Pawarenga-born grandfather is Te Rarawa and Te Aupōuri, while his nana is Ngāpuhi. When Tai was 3, he moved to the Gold Coast with his father, Miha, a successful rugby league player. While growing up in Australia, Tai kept a close connection with Aotearoa, often returning to New Zealand for holidays to see whānau.
When Tai was 8, his mother moved to Bali, a shift that would change his destiny forever. During school breaks, he would holiday in Bali and spend time at the beach hanging out with local kids, becoming fluent in Bahasa in the process, all the while developing a huge passion for surfing.
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The spirit reached an epiphany in 2006 when he was 24; with $3000 in his pocket, he moved to Bali to follow his dream. Dave Hardman, a Gold Coast family friend and successful businessman who retired at 35, was pivotal in Tai’s decision to move to Bali. As a mentor, Dave placed a map of the world on a wall and asked him, “What do you love to do?” It was a watershed moment when Tai realised he needed to follow his Bali dream.
“I would like to live somewhere warm, surf perfect waves, be surrounded by fun people, and get creative. And I just want to be excited every day. I want to do fun things every day; I want to wake up and be stoked on life every day,” he remembers thinking. Dave’s advice? “So go do it.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Tai’s entrepreneurial spirit started in 2005 when he leased a villa in then-burgeoning locale Seminyak, restyled it with a coat of paint and some furniture, and rented it to surfers he met at a party. The rent paid off his investment in two months. Shortly after, he opened Black Dog, a bar that drew hundreds of hipsters overnight, which gave him the cashflow to pursue bigger dreams.
In 2010 he and a partner established Single Fin, the Uluwatu beach bar that’s now an island institution. Tai could tell the potential right away when he first visited the rundown, 60sq m site, realising he could add decks and more floors to create a hub, knowing the infinity sunset views combined with a style and vibe injection would bring punters from across the island to party. No one was doing Sunday sessions for which Single Fin became legendary, packing in 1500 revellers each Sunday coming from as far as Canggu and Ubud.
Today, Single Fin spans three levels and has a retail store. “It was the beast, understanding the business aspect of [Single Fin]. You had to fill it up,” he recalls. “I didn’t know how to tighten the screws at first; that was a great learning journey just doing it.”
Fast forward to 2015, with Tai opening The Lawn in Canggu to much the same fanfare, a pioneering beach club bringing a hip, stylish, modern vibe to Batu Bolong, which until then was more synonymous with bohemian bungalows serving tempeh quinoa bowls. Securing The Lawn’s incredible beachfront position — on land owned by the adjacent temple — was no easy feat.
It was one of Tai’s Balinese childhood friends — whose father was head of Canggu village and brother the head priest — who flagged the opportunity. While he just started very “lo-fi” on the land with a Kombi van on the grass selling margaritas, to expand and create what The Lawn is today required Tai to tender for the land with the Banjar — the local community government group — competing with about 25 other operators.
His excellent reputation running Single Fin and his fluency in Bahasa was a plus, but perhaps his inherent respect for elders and tribal culture got him to the finish line. “Picture the iwi of that area owning this particular land, and you’ve got to sit down in front of all the kaumātua and plead. Lucky for me, I could speak the language I knew. I knew the tikanga, you know, the protocols and the customs,” he recalls.
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“I knew the ways of how to sit, how to talk, what tone to use, and who do I direct my message to and when to speak and when not to speak.”
Tai credits the synergies between Balinese and Māori culture as a strength he’s been able to draw upon, applying it to how he runs and operates his businesses. “Bali is made up of hundreds, maybe thousands of small villages. There’s the tribal hierarchy structure, the village hierarchy structure,” he explains. “There’s protocols and customs that have been in place for hundreds if not thousands of years. [There are similarities] with our Māori culture. We have our atua, [the basic elements] we believe, something higher and bigger than us. And so do they.”
Tai is married to Norwegian-born Helle Them-Enger and has two children, Kahu, 5, and Maia, 2. Helle is half of the duo behind the sustainable clothing label Faithfull the Brand — worn by the likes of Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber — with more than 1000 employees in Indonesia and more than 700,000 followers on Instagram. The couple met 15 years ago when Helle was visiting Bali as an exchange student.
Tai’s children are never far from their Māoritanga — with his father now living in Bali — remaining in close touch with a large extended family spread across Aotearoa and Australia. At the last whānau reunion in 2018, there were 135 family members spanning three generations. During and post-Covid this connection shifted to online wānanga, with up to 30 members of the whānau.
“We’ve just finished a first phase of a learning block on te reo Māori, learnings on tikanga, and for some of us, like myself, immediately adopting our ways and applying it to day-to-day life, both at home and in the workplace,” explains Tai. “I’ve totally readjusted our way of thinking with heavy consideration of tikanga Māori; it’s always tough blending the West with Māori but in a place like Bali with strong cultural similarities, it’s actually been quite easy to adopt. It’s a beautiful feeling. Sharing the aroha.”
On July 7, Tai opened Electric Eel, a 70s-inspired all-day eatery with views of the surf at Canggu’s Echo Beach that’s destined to become a beachfront classic, already attracting flocks of surf-cum-style mavens. It definitely has Tai’s Midas touch; a slight nostalgic 70s nod with custom leather chairs, marble tables, corduroy couches, wood panelling, and artwork by Jakey Pedro. It’s all effortlessly stylish without being pretentious, and innately timeless at the same time.
What’s next? Tai and Adam will continue to expand the Project Black empire, opening a second Bossman Burger joint after the first in Seminyak — this time in Canggu — delivering what many claim to be the best burgers in Bali.
Tai’s vision includes a boutique hotel. “I love bringing people together. I think maybe that’s the Polynesian spirit of being a host,” he remembers telling his mentor many moons ago. “I love being around the surf. And I love music. And so we’re trying to figure out a way to bring all those elements together.”
For Tai, it would seem he’s accomplished his dream already, with much more still to come.
Three quick questions
What do you love about where you live?
I love the weather, beach lifestyle and surf. Early mornings, waking before sunrise, paddling out in the water and getting some waves to start the day. I love the spirit of the people and culture — it’s so closely connected with Māori culture. I love the creativity, and it’s an amazing place to bring up kids. I love locking into my work mode in Bali and then switching off and tuning into my adventure surf mode. I just have to jump on a boat or short flight to different islands around Indonesia. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
What’s your favourite local ingredient?
Coconuts. Coconut after a surf, a coconut mojito in the evening, a coconut tree keeps us in the shade, and we build with coconut wood all the time. I’m a Māori but I love coconuts (Kiwis will get that joke)!
What are Bali’s must-dos and tries?
• Spend time understanding where you are, the environment you are in, meet the people, blend in. Take time to listen — you might hear things, but are you listening?
• Surf — Bali is built on surf culture.
• See and feel temples with the right people and at the right time.
• Uluwatu Temple: When it’s a full moon at midnight with moonlight shining and the sounds of the waves crashing on the cliffs below.
• Jungles of Ubud: Find a quiet place and sit on a valley and look out, see the rice fields and trees while listening to the sounds of waterfalls.
• Go fishing: Jump on a local fishing boat and go to the coast of Amed.
• Amazing restaurants and bars to visit in the modern Bali.
• Sample the local delicacies like babi guling, nasi goreng, street oxo, chicken satays.
• Get a massage on the beach from an old ibu (lady) with sand on her hands — it’s exfoliating!
• Get to know a local family. Hang with them while they prepare offerings, weave baskets, or just sit together watching kids run around. This true spirit is what Bali stands for.
