Jack Strong has a confession to make.

"When I was young, I was kind of the black sheep," said the Oregon transplant, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. He pauses, then adds, "A Native kid on the coast, and I didn't eat seafood."

He looks a little sheepish about the whole thing. But then the 31-year-old laughs as he reflects on his youthful ways and adds that he has long since expanded his palate and horizons.

Has he ever.

Strong is the new chef de cuisine at Kai, the Native American-inspired signature restaurant at the Sheraton Wild Horse Resort & Spa on the Gila River Indian Reservation, which this week won the coveted five-diamond rating from the AAA travel agency - one of only four restaurants in Arizona to earn the top mark.

AAA employs 65 full-time travel editors who visit 50,000 properties a year incognito to come up with the ratings.

Guests at Kai are met with traditional Pima greetings, including: Sapai masma? ("How are you?") and mova sape ("thank you").

Michael O'Dowd, the resort's executive chef, says that in addition to being sommelier-certified and knowledgeable about the food - which has ranged from a mesquite-grilled rabbit loin with foie gras starter to an entrée of smoked veal chop rubbed with toasted, ground fair-trade coffee - the waitstaff is also educated about the area's two tribes.

"It's not all about food," O'Dowd said of the AAA rating system. "It's about service, ambience. When you leave, you have actually learned something about the culture."

Strong, who is dedicated to Kai, and O'Dowd, who is responsible for all of the resort's restaurants, also credit Kai's success to a strong team, which includes James Beard Award-winning consulting chef Janos Wilder and sommelier and supervisor Carmichael Leuterio.

But right now, all eyes are on Strong, who has been on the job since April.

He also likes to "make a connection" wherever he goes, and he's doing just that. In August, for example, Strong and his staff met with several elders from the Gila River Indian Community to learn how to make chemaith bread, which is similar to a tortilla.

Strong says he enjoyed his recent cooking lesson, not only because he learned something but also because he felt comfortable with the group of elders, five women and one of the women's sons. They reminded him of his grandmother and her friends.

"There's a bond there," Strong said. "It goes beyond your tribe."

Chef Sandy Garcia's departure from Kai last spring prompted a search for a successor. O'Dowd contacted a colleague at the Phoenician to inquire about candidates, adding that if the person fit well into Native American environs, all the better.

The rest fell into place.

Of course, Strong adds, it was clear from the beginning that his position at Kai was about more than preparing food. He also became a role model.

"To see a Native do well is a big thing," Strong said. "I'm a little bit of a rarity in that you don't see a lot of Native American cooks, let alone chefs."

After high school, and on the tribe's tab, he attended culinary school at a community college in Eugene, Ore. There, he realized he could achieve his dream of being a chef.

"This was the one thing I knew I really wanted to do," Strong said.

A previous vacation to the Valley, combined with positive press about the local culinary scene, made the Phoenix area attractive.

And although all Strong knew initially about the Phoenician was that "it was a nice place," he soon was an employee. Then, he was brought to Kai.

Even though the work is hard and the hours are long, Strong can't imagine being anywhere else. "I still pinch myself occasionally about how far I've come," he said.



A version of this story originally appeared in Chandler Life magazine.