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| - When I travel, I always try to eat as much native food as I can. Otherwise what's the point of travelling if you don't try to experience some of the local culture and cuisine. I was therefore excited to find a fine dining restaurant offering local native Indian cuisine rather than the ubiquitous tex mex of the southwest.
Well, I enjoyed one of the best dining experiences of my life here, not just best native Indian dining experience.
The restaurant is located on the Wild Horse Resort complex, which is a native Indian resort offering casino & golf as well as hotel facilities. My only problem was navigating the huge complex and my only criticism was that the signposting to the hotel/restaurant was poor, something which I mentioned to the staff and received a promise that the problem had already been identified and was being dealt with. Just in case it still hasn't, head for the golf clubhouse and keep going beyond that despite the lack of signage!
There is valet parking available but self parking is no problem. The hotel itself is spacious and Kai is located on the ground floor. Kai is the Pima word for seed and there are many obvious native Indian influences, reflected in many aspects of the design and architecture - this is all explained in the restaurant menu and is obviously an aspect of the experience that they're very rightly proud of here.
The restaurant has been recently refurbished to a very high standard. The tables are well spaced out and everything reeks of top quality - for example, the menus are printed on embossed paper.
I think the way to sum up this amazing restaurant is 'attention to detail'. I've been lucky to dine in 3 Michelin star establishments but nowhere in the whole world I've visited beats Kai for attention to detail. Everyone knew my name from my reservation. Cutlery restocked from different sides of the table. New napkins for every visit to the restroom. Crockery and cutlery warmed or chilled to appropriate temperature for every dish!!
The service is also friendly and very informative. There is also great drama with the food and choreography to the service. Foie gras is bruleed at the tableside. Soups are decanted into bowls from pitchers. Multiple waiters coordinate simultaneous delivery of dishes to multiple diner tables.
My server kindly arranged a fresh orange juice. Then came another moment which sums up this amazing restaurant - I was offered fruit accompaniments with my glass of regular water!
Onto the food. I went for the tasting menu with its interesting choice of ingedients and combinations.
I was pleased to see that the choice of breads included local Indian flatbread - a local Indian chief came into the kitchen to show the chefs how to make it. This was served with a first rate fruity olive oil.
1. Amuse of buffalo tartare with cornbread crisp, crisp microgreens and balsamic vinegar. The buffalo was more gamey than normal beef and the balsamic vinegar was an excellent foil.
2. Avocado panna cota toped with shrimp ceviche. The server poured over a papaya and mango soup at the table. My first huge smile moment when I found my chilled spoon! This was a dish which intrigued me from its unlikely combination of such disparate ingredients and it worked!! The smooth avocado was a perfect base for the tangy ceviche and the fruit soup wasn't too sweet but the subtleties of the papaya and mango were definitely evident flavours.
3. For a carnivore, I was amazed at the great salad which followed - the menu told me that the lettuces had been picked by local farmers and children of the Gila Crossing School. The salad had a chilli dressing. It was accompanied by date cake with foie gras (yum!), Humboult Fog goat cheese and heirloom tomato with candied walnut.
4. Baja scallop topped with dried mango and sandalwood dust. The sandalwood gave the dish a powerful aromatic introduction, which activated all my salivary glands. An unusual use of what is usually used in incense sticks. The giant sweet scallop was served with bean puree, fried salsify and fennel pollen.
5. Seared foie gras with macerated huckleberry and a fig in filo pastry. If you've read my other reviews, you'll know that you can't go wrong with seared foie gras with me!
6. Palate cleanser of guava with fennel sorbet and mango sauce.
7. Grilled tenderloin of buffalo from the Cheyenne River Tribe. The meat was open and evenly textured, tender with a nice gamey flavour. The plate was completed with a chorizo and corn cake and a morel mushroom mix.
8. Lamb with pecan crust with chocolate and chilli sauce. Chocoalte with chilli has become mainstream and I wonder if this is where it originated.
9. Cheese. Belgian soft cheese and a Tasmanian cheddar.
10. Medley of desserts. Corn creme brulee. Fig bread with chocolate ice cream inside. Italian meringue bruleed tableside with fruit.
Also lovely to chat to chef de cuisine Jack Strong after the meal.
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