KAI restaurant offers a fine dining experience that brings light to the Native American culture through the eyes of the Pima and Maricopa tribes. The showplace prix fixe dining room of Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass is located in the Gila River Indian Community in Phoenix, Arizona.
Dinner at KAI is like a dance where the food will lead, and you will follow. For approximately three hours, the sensational and charming staff gracefully move about the tables, serving cuisine derived from indigenous culture, the native landscape, and creative, elevated global cooking styles. Every step is flawless.
KAI (the word means “seed” in the O’odham language) is Arizona’s only AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five Star Restaurant, and based on my experience, it’s earned all those accolades and more.
Welcome to KAI
Tribal tradition is celebrated from the moment you approach, with soft Native American music at the resort entrance. KAI restaurant’s dining room is decorated in warm tones, with large wooden beams on the ceiling, intricate woven baskets hanging on the walls, and clay pots displayed on tables and shelves. The windows frame spectacular views of the Sierra Estrella Mountains.
Our server Jeremy was a captivating storyteller, telling us about the indigenous Pima and Maricopa people and how their past and present influence the restaurant’s cuisine. Honoring the tribes, known as hunters, gatherers, and farmers, most courses incorporate ingredients grown on or foraged from tribal land.
“I love working at KAI because it gives me the creative freedom to explore and showcase the indigenous ingredients of the Southwest while incorporating these into the cuisine of the O’odham people,” says Chef de Cuisine Drew Anderson. “The community has provided me with amazing partnerships and a sense of camaraderie.”
In many ways, Chef Anderson is a kindred spirit of the Gila River Indian Community. His finesse and vision resemble the precision of their tribal artwork and ability to design for purpose.
Four Courses, Four Stages of Life
The menus themselves are works of art — literally. The large, wood-framed covers encase watercolor paintings depicting tribal activity such as gathering berries.
The KAI restaurant tasting menu consists of four courses, each with a choice of options. It is laid out in sections: Birth (hors d’oeuvres), Beginning (appetizers), Journey (entree), and Afterlife (desserts). The menu is constantly updated depending on the season’s bounty.
You can pick your wine or go with their suggested pairings for each course, which we decided to do. Since James Beard Nominee Darren Greenspon runs the wine program, we knew we were in good hands and his pairings turned out to be excellent.
My husband and I ordered different dishes so we could try each other’s selections.
The decadent prequel to the evening was up first: the amuse bouche — pickled huckleberry and rhubarb with mesquite and cooked cream.
The Birth
My Birth choice, Pee-Posh Garden, looked like a dainty flower planted with candied pecan soil. It was a lovely blend of confit of baby potatoes, pickled Chioggia beets, sunchoke cream, and fermented white asparagus. The miniature garden had a nutty sweetness with an extraordinary balance of soft and crunchy textures.
A beautiful 2021 Emmerich Knoll Gruner Veltliner Federspiel from Wachau, Austria nicely accompanied the dish with its herbaceous, zesty flavors.
My husband’s Birth choice, Celebration of Arizona Mushrooms, was a wheatberry and black garlic risotto with parsnip and apple puree. Our server poured a broth of fungi and herb tea over the dish, producing an abundance of earthy aromas.
The ensemble paired wonderfully with the 2019 Produttori del Barbaresco from Piedmont, Italy. A Nebbiolo’s velvety tannic structure is a natural match for dishes with hints of forest floor.
The Beginning
Following the Birth, there was a surprise intermission. A honey-glazed bread and herb-infused butter provided an elegant touch of sweetness before the Beginning.
The Berkshire Pork course was one of our Beginnings. The braised pork ragout with i’itoi onion, brown butter delicata squash, and gastrique with a caramelized sweet and sour sauce danced harmoniously with the 2019 Alvaro Palacios, ‘Les Terrasses” from Priorat, Spain. The Garnacha-dominant wine with flavors of cooked berries, toast, and orange zest complemented the glazed pork and peppery influence of the i’itoi onion. (I’itoi onions grow wild in Arizona, and the vegetable has significance in tribal cooking.)
Our second Beginning was seared foie gras with brown butter tart, caramelized onion puree, and pickled ramp with an onion demi-glace. It paired superbly with Rare Wine Co.’s “Savannah Verdelho” from Madeira, Portugal. Madeira is a fortified wine from the Portuguese island of the same name. The wine of Verdelho grapes exuded hints of fig, marmalade, creme brulee, and citrus that sinfully melted together with the savory foie gras.
The Journey
As if we weren’t already well into our journey at KAI, next came the Journey.
We chose the U’uwhig, seared duck roulade with fermented leek, confit rutabaga, and celeriac puree, with a pour-over of duck consomme. The tender duck rolled up with tangy herbs exquisitely paired with the dusty truffle notes of the vibrant 2017 Bouchard Pere & Fils Nuits-Saint-George from Burgundy.
The Pisin, grilled tenderloin of American bison, was also part of the Journey. The succulent meat fell apart with the touch of a fork and sat upon a bright yellow corn puree. The dish comes with oxtail and scarlet runner bean cassoulet, cholla bud, and saguaro blossom syrup.
And Arizona’s 2020 Wild Syrah from Rune Wines in Willcox was indeed a clever pairing with its complexity, inky texture, and flavors of game, olives, and Mediterranean spices.
The Afterlife
Before our ascent into the Afterlife came another bread course, one they call Gi:sho. The fry bread, known as Wamichta, was perfectly crispy on the outside yet light and airy inside. For dipping there was a whipped crow’s dairy chevre, pichuberry mostarda, and Peterson honeycomb foam.
A beautiful NV Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc & Viognier Sparkling from California was a lovely complement. The wine’s zippy acid, tart yellow apples, ginger notes, and slight effervescence also made it a delightful digestif.
At this point, we are unsure if we are dreaming or fully immersed in The Afterlife. To be certain, we indulged in the Creator’s Mountain. It consisted of aa cocoa sponge, dark chocolate mousse, saguaro and wolfberry foam, pine cream, with prickly pear gel, and caramelia ice cream. The raisined and luscious dessert wine pairing, Yalumba Winery’s “Antique Muscat” from Yalumba, South Australia, was an exceptional treat for this rich sweet.
Our second choice was the sweet corn custard, blueberry compote, husk ash crema with vanilla cake, and juniper berry streusel. The dish came with a burst of engaging flavors that popped with its pairing of a 2017 “Five Puttonyos” Royal Tokaji, a famed dessert wine from Hungary whose sweetness derives from the distinct Aszu grapes. The wine’s dried apricot, caramel, and honey notes are a match made in heaven for this corn dessert.
A Gracious Goodbye
When our meal was complete, Jeremy gave us a parting gift of chocolates, honey, and olive oil. And as we said our goodbyes, everyone acknowledged us again by name.
The valet was waiting to bid us farewell, and a thank you card was on our car console.
With its devotion to tribal traditions, native ingredients, and elevated cooking techniques — to say nothing of its ingenious wine pairings — dinner at KAI is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. I marvel at the excellence on every level.
I can only hope I’ve told my story about KAI as well as they told theirs to us.
Our meal at KAI was provided by KAI restaurant at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, Gila River Community
Darla Hoffman blogs at: www.aboutwineinaz.com
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