PrintNative Culinary Destinations
While Native American ingredients and foods influence the cuisine of many restaurants throughout the West and Southwest, only a few culinary establishments feature true American Indian cuisine. Here’s the real deal when it comes to Native American cookery. For even more Native restaurants, cooking schools, and recipes, visit www.nativerecipes.com.
Amaya Restaurant Owned by the Picuris Pueblo of northern New Mexico and located in the Hotel Santa Fe, Amaya offers an innovative blending of Native American food, from grilled bison tenderloin with vanilla sweet potato au gratin to Tiwa taco fry bread topped with ground buffalo and black bean corn relish. Private teepee dining is available. Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 505.982.1200, www.hotelsantafe.com.
Classic Cooking Academy
This nonprofit culinary school offers a six-month Native American culinary program that teaches traditional and contemporary Native American culinary customs and technologies, including sustainable agriculture, health, and nutrition. McDowell Mountain Ranch, 10411 E. McDowell Mountain Ranch Road, Scottsdale, Arizona, 480.502.0177, www.classiccookingacademy.org.
Desert Rain Café
A project of Tohono O’odham Community Action, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting a healthy, culturally vital, and sustainable Native community, the Desert Rain Café showcases the bounty of the Sonoran desert. Every dish contains at least one traditional ingredient, such as cholla buds, tepary beans, or saguaro fruit syrup, and all menu items focus on healthy foods made with whole grains and natural sweeteners. Indian Route 19, Sells, Arizona, 520.383.4918, www.desertraincafe.com.
Hopi Cultural Center Restaurant & Inn
In northern Arizona, where the Hopi Indian ancestry stretches back some 100 generations, the Hopi Cultural Center Restaurant & Inn serves authentic Hopi recipes, which generally center around corn. While there, be sure to tour the museum, gift shop, and surrounding traditional villages, including the Second Mesa villages of Shungopavi and Mishongnovi, noted for their coiled baskets and Katsina dolls. Second Mesa, Arizona, 928.734.2401, www.hopiculturalcenter.com.
Kai
Meaning seed in the Pima language, Kai offers a menu rich in creativity and Native American culture. Located at the Sheraton Wild Horse Resort & Spa, this upscale restaurant combines the essence of the Pima and Maricopa tribes with locally farmed ingredients from the Gila River Indian community. Sheraton Wild Horse Resort & Spa, 5594 W. Wild Horse Pass Road, Chandler, Arizona, 602.225.0100, www.wildhorsepassresort.com.
Mitsitam Cafe
Enjoy the indigenous cuisines of the Americas while you explore the history of Native foods at the National Museum of the American Indian. The cafe features five stations depicting Native foods throughout the Western Hemisphere. National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth Street & Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C., 202.633.1000, www.nmai.si.edu.
Pueblo Harvest Cafe and Bakery
From traditional posole and mutton stew to a rack of locally raised New Mexico lamb crusted with sunflower seeds, this Native-fusion restaurant at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center features traditional Native and Southwestern cuisine with influences from Mexican, Spanish, Tex-Mex, Cajun, and Creole cooking. Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St. NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 505.724.3510, www.indianpueblo.com.
Red Mesa Cuisine Catering
Owned by Lois Ellen Frank and Navajo chef Walter Whitewater, Red Mesa Cuisine offers cooking classes and event catering services focused on preserving traditional agricultural practices and culinary techniques while adding a contemporary edge. An example of their artistry? How about the spectacular Kachina Mosaic of American Caviars with Endive Feathers pictured on their website. Book them for your next Santa Fe shindig. 7 Avenida Vista Grande, Suite 147, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 505.466.6306, www.redmesacuisine.com.
The Santa Fe School of Cooking
Sign up for the Native American cooking class (the next ones will be offered July 23 and August 23, $80 per person) to learn from Lois Ellen Frank herself. Frank will demonstrate how to make blue corn gnocchi arrowheads with guajillo chile sauce, seasonal greens with jalape"o dressing, lamb-stuffed rellenos with tomato sauce, and sweet fry bread with seasonal berries and prickly pear syrup. 116 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe, New Mexico, 800.982.4688, www.santafeschoolofcooking.com.
Tocabe
This fast-casual restaurant serves up fry bread in a variety of forms: from a classic Indian taco topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and your choice of meat and beans to the Little Osage Pizza (fry bread topped with refried beans and ground beef) to sweet fry bread nuggets for dessert. Owners Matt Chandra and Ben Jacobs, a member of the Osage tribe, won second place at last year’s National Indian Taco Championship and aim to introduce Native foods and flavors to downtown Denver. 3536 W. 44th Ave., Denver, 720.524.8282, www.tocabe.com.
The Turquoise Room Restaurant
Serving regional contemporary Southwestern cuisine, the Turquoise Room Restaurant in La Posada Hotel uses local ingredients to create dazzling dishes. Among the many authentic Native American foods are Navajo churro (lamb) and piki bread with Hopi hummus using native tepary beans and roasted corn. 303 E. Second St. (Route 66), Winslow, Arizona, 928.289.2888, www.theturquoiseroom.net.
