One of the most powerful ways to express cultural identity and allow people to share their heritage with others is through food. Reportedly, Native American food is slowly becoming more popular in America. Restaurants are looking to the past for inspiration, and many chefs are reviving dishes that are truly native to their regions. The culinary trend has deepened recently, with an emphasis on indigenous ingredients creating the ultimate expression of local, seasonal cuisine. Popular ingredients include game meat, fresh berries, maple sugar and wild rice harvested from lake beds. Additionally, a trio of corn, beans, and squash, known to Native Americans as the “Three Sisters”, is being offered as a side dish. Many diners are also pairing the foods with traditional teas made from indigenous aromatics such as steeped pine needles. Here are some of the most popular restaurants that preserve indigenous culinary traditions across America.
Indian Pueblo Kitchen, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Indian Pueblo Kitchen, located in the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, is centered around indigenous cuisine education and exploration and carries on a tradition of creative, Native American cooking and Pueblo hospitality. Here, each meal focuses on a direction or region of the country, a related corn color, and pre-contact indigenous ingredients. Chef Ray Nararo serves up a 3-course meal that includes squash bisque with toasted pumpkin seeds, cedar-smoked salmon with blue corn and truffle-scented roasted mushrooms, and a wild berry compote for dessert.
Kai at Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, Phoenix, Arizona
Think of Kai as a high-end journey through new Native American cuisine. Kai means ‘seed’ in the Pima language, and it is the only AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five Star restaurant in Arizona. This indigenously owned fine dining restaurant serves a menu rich in creativity, history, and Native American culture. Chef de Cuisine Ryan Swanson incorporates the essence of the Pima and Maricopa tribes and locally farmed ingredients from the Gila River Indian community and other native communities to create unforgettable culinary masterpieces. One of the favorite dishes on the menu is Tohono O’Odham’s ha:el – a mesquite-chard TOCA (Tohono O’Odham Community Action) squash soup with pumpkin sprout pesto, pepita tuile, and prickly pear cochineal cotton candy.
Cafe Ohlone, Berkeley, California
Café Ohlone operates in its indigenous homeland, Berkeley, to revive and strengthen traditional Ohlone foods and to keep the cuisine and culture of the Ohlone community strong. Reportedly, this is the only Ohlone restaurant in the world, which creates sumptuous cuisine from indigenous ingredients to the Bay Area. Their sample dish includes clams and mussels traditionally cooked with Ohlone herbs, local seaweed and acorn soup. They also prepare dishes such as sweet black oak acorn bisque, local oysters and mussels—cooked pickles and country onions in a kombu broth. Some of their other dishes include caramelized Indian onions, umami-heavy California chanterelles roasted in duck fat, brownies made from Valley oak acorn flour and East Bay salt and rose tea, stinging nettle, elderberry and artemisia sage.
Orange Peel Bakery, Aquina, Massachusetts
Based in the Wampanoag land of Aquina, Orange Peel Bakery is an originally owned bakery featuring food traditions from around the world. Its sample dishes include clam fritters, a simple dish using local, available ingredients and turning them into an original, hearty meal throughout the winter. Using locally grown and ground flour, locally made beer, some baking powder and salt, delicate clams are transformed into warm and hearty fritters to be eaten for any meal. This mainstay of Wampanoag tribal cuisine has been enjoyed by tribal members and their families and friends for centuries.
Station Grill Falmouth, Falmouth, Massachusetts
Located directly on the Shining Sea bike path, inside the historic Falmouth train station that now serves as a bus station – Chef John Marcelino and his wife, Marion, welcome guests indoor and outdoor dining, free corn holes, cold water To enjoy Mr. and live entertainment all summer long. The Station Grill is open year-round and serves a free side of kindness with every meal. The local favorite here is the delicious Fat Daddy Lobster Roll.
Owamani, Minneapolis, Minnesota
You can experience the true taste of North America at Owamani by Sioux chef, Sean Sherman; The first ‘decolonized restaurant’ in Minnesota featuring foods from MniSotaMakoce, which translates as “the land where the water reflects the clouds”. This restaurant prioritizes shopping from indigenous food producers locally and nationally and prides itself on offering a vintage dining experience. Here you can explore pre-colonial food that doesn’t contain ingredients like sugar, dairy, wheat flour or anything processed.
Plentiful Cafe, Plymouth, Massachusetts
The PlimothPatuxet Museum’s bountiful Café serves food inspired by Wampanoag and English Colonial dining ways traditions as well as a variety of modern-day menu options. Its prominent sampler dishes include succotash, a dish made from staples of traditional Wampanoag gardening: corn, beans, and squash. It can be prepared in any season using fresh or dry ingredients. The name is derived from the Algonquian word msíckquatash, meaning “steamed corn kernels.”
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