Book dossier

The New Native American Cuisine

by Marian Betancourt

One of only six U.S. restaurants to achieve the AAA’s Five Diamond status—and the nation’s only Native American restaurant to have earned this distinction along with a Mobil Five Star rating—Kai Restaurant at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, on the outskirts of Phoenix, is redefining Native American cuisine. With classical European culinary techniques, artful plating, and pairing with the finest wines, the Kai chefs bring an ancient cuisine into the modern spotlight. Specialties include grilled elk chop with truffles, sweet corn panna cotta with venison carpaccio, buffalo tartare with prairie quail egg, and butter-basted lobster tail on fry bread with avocado mousse. Now, with The New Native American Cuisine, leading food writer Marian Betancourt and two of Kai’s top chefs make this cuisine available to home cooks. Beautifully illustrated with rich full-color photographs of the resort and its award-winning restaurant and dishes, this sumptuous book presents more than fifty unforgettable recipes. Finally, it is not only a cookbook—it is also a guide to the rich history and culture of the farmers and ranchers of the Gila River Indian Community.