THE table
Seven Indigenous chefs from across the Americas come together for one collaborative menu shaped by fire, memory, land, and story. A multi-course dining experience centering Indigenous foodways, ancestral ingredients, and the connections that have always existed across Turtle Island and beyond.
The Chefs
Nephi Craig
Chef Nephi Craig, an enrolled member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and half Navajo, possesses 28 years of culinary experience spanning America and international locations including Canada, Mexico, London, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Italy, and France. Featured in the 2020 James Beard Award-winning film Gather, Chef Craig is a 2023 James Beard Foundation Nominee for "Best Chef: Southwest" and holds an honorary PhD in Visual Arts from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. He currently serves as the Nutritional Recovery Program Coordinator and Executive Chef at the Rainbow Treatment Center’s Café Gozhóó on the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona. His upcoming book, Our Knives Will Save Us, is scheduled for release on July 14, 2026.
Café Gozhóó 
Emmie Strauss
Chef Emmie Strauss is a Provo native who’s culinary identity is a vibrant map of her heritage, rooted in the flavors of her Bolivian and Chilean parents. Her journey began at the family table, where she discovered the power of food while cooking for her father and brother. After refining her technical craft at the Park City Culinary Institute in Salt Lake City, she has dedicated herself to exploring the intersection of traditional South American flavors and modern mountain west technique. Now, as a Sous Chef, she brings that dual-lineage perspective to the kitchen. Her work is defined by a commitment to sustainable practices, from the mastery of whole-animal butchery, to the respectful harvesting of live trout. By weaving these elemental traditions into modern expression, Emmie ensures that the narrative of the land remains the foundation of her craft.
Love Letter 
Bleu Adams
Chef Bleu Adams (Mandan, Hidatsa, Diné) is a chef, restaurateur, and food sovereignty advocate with over 30 years of industry experience. Alongside her late brother, Chef Mark Daniel Mason, she built the multi-award winning Black Lamb Group portfolio, and in 2014 successfully petitioned OpenTable to create a dedicated category for Native American concepts. A global advocate for Indigenous foodways, Adams has promoted culinary diplomacy in places like Kuwait, Mexico, and Japan through the American Culinary Corps. She has supported industry equity via the James Beard Foundation’s Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change and the BIPOC Food Fund. Currently, Adams serves as Director of IndigeHub, an economic incubator rooted in Indigenous food systems. Her recent residency at The Continental was named Salt Lake Magazine’s Best Restaurant of 2026.
Black Lamb Group
Luis Martinez
Born in Santa Catarina Loxicha and raised in Oaxaca City, Chef Luis Martinez’s culinary foundation was built while studying Fine Arts. His path took a sharp turn in 2005 when he fled political persecution—stemming from his activism in Indigenous communities—to seek asylum in the U.S. After initially laboring as a farmworker in California and facing the realities of cultural displacement, he eventually returned to the kitchen.Honing his craft in Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle, Luis worked alongside Oaxacan chefs to blend ancestral flavors with global techniques. Now based in Asheville, North Carolina, he has become a U.S. citizen who fuses gastronomy with social justice. Today, Luis promotes Oaxacan heritage and heirloom corn preservation, adapting to East Coast constraints while championing cultural authenticity and Indigenous resilience.
Tequio Food
Tawnya Brant
Chef Tawnya Brant is a Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan citizen of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and the chef-owner of Yawékon Foods, an Indigenous catering and educational company rooted in Haudenosaunee traditional and contemporary foodways. She is the host of APTN’s One Dish One Spoon, with season two airing in May 2026, and a Top Chef Canada Season 10 finalist. With over 30 years in the restaurant industry, Chef Tawnya has been featured on CTV’s The Good Stuff with Mary Berg, The Social, Milk Masters 2024, and APTN In Focus, and on the covers of Food & Drink Canada and Menu Magazine. Through her work, she continues to share Indigenous food knowledge across North America while honoring Haudenosaunee culinary and agricultural traditions.
Yawékon Foods
Stephanie Baryluk
Chef Steph Baryluk, a proud Teetl’it Gwich’in from Teetl’it Zheh (Fort McPherson) in Treaty 11 Territory, draws deep inspiration from her Arctic upbringing, where hunting, fishing, and land stewardship shaped her connection to food and cultural heritage. With over 10 years of experience as a Red Seal Indigenous Chef, Steph is passionate about preserving and sharing Indigenous culinary traditions through education, culinary training, and community engagement. Named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2024 and recipient of the WXN Food Industry Award, Chef Steph is a leader in advancing Indigenous food systems. She combines her culinary expertise with advocacy, inspiring future generations and promoting sustainability and cultural heritage from community kitchens to the global stage.
Nihkhah
Jose Contreras
Chef Jose Contreras, born in Hermosillo, Mexico, is the chef owner of Amelia's Mexican Kitchen in Tucson, AZ, where he brings the flavors, traditions, and soul of Northern Mexico to the table. Inspired by his grandmother Amelia whose love, cooking, and hospitality shaped his path Chef Jose built Amelia’s as a celebration of heritage, family, and authentic Mexican cuisine. His work has earned recognition as a James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist and has been highlighted by publications including The New York Times and Forbes. Through every dish, Chef Jose honors his Sonoran roots while elevating Mexican and Indigenous cuisine with craftsmanship, authenticity, and heart.
Amelia's