Flavors of Arizona: A Journey Through Native Culinary Heritage at Condé Nast

 Flavors of Arizona: A Journey Through Native Culinary Heritage at Condé Nast





This past September, I had the incredible experience of bringing Flavors of Arizona: A Journey Through Native Culinary Heritage to Condé Nast at the World Trade Center in New York City.  We produced a tasting menu for 300 Conde Nast food writers, global influencers and editors. All their brands were present including Bon Appetit, Vogue, The New Yorker and more. I have been producing this event in various forms for over 13 years in Arizona. This was quite the challenge, and I took the responsibilty of representing Arizona and Indigenous Culinary Arizona to heart. My journey in Indigenous Food Ways begin as a child listening to the stories my mother shared of her Grandmother. I have a strange professional skill set, that spans, media relations, marketing, arts, culture producer and more. I am a Master Gardener in desert landscapes and lecture on Edible Medicinal Plants of the Sonoran Desert. 

This opportunity for Conde Nast came by chance during a tourism presentation I was giving for the City of Scottsdale. I was approached after my presentation by Experience Scottsdale, the agency that promotes the city globally. The agency was really looking how to highlight what is unique about the City of Scottsdale. I have been producing this event in Scottsdale with the Arizona American Indian Tourism Association for seven years. The city for decades has been the strongest supporter in Arizona of Arts & Culture with Experience Scottsdale continually leading the way. The city's roots as an artist colony and destination thread back to Indigenous Arizona and this vibrant rich thread is continually elevated and celebrated. 

The Conde Nast experience was  a powerful celebration of the strength, resilience, and enduring traditions of Arizona’s Indigenous communities. I took it as a opportunity to share the soul of Indigineous Arizona that not too many outside of  Native Communities are able to experience—the vibrant cultures, the sacred lands, and the timeless culinary practices that have been handed down through generations all mixed into to an elegant culinary tasting experience.

Arizona is home to 22 Native American Sovereign Nations, each with its own unique story, culture, and traditions. The lands they occupy are as diverse as the tribes themselves—stretching from the high deserts of the Navajo Nation to the lush valleys of the Tohono O’odham, and from the red rocks of the Hopi mesas to the rugged terrain of the Yavapai. These lands are beautiful; they are sacred, intertwined with the stories, beliefs, and livelihoods of the people who have lived in harmony with the lands for thousands of years. And it is here, in these lands, that Indigenous foodways have flourished—food that is as connected to the earth as it is to the culture it nourishes.

I have been actively involved in the  Native Sovereignty Food Movement for many years, it is a powerful movement dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous food systems and reclaiming Native foodways that were almost lost to colonization and forced assimilation. The movement is about sovereignty, culture, and reclaiming the knowledge that was once suppressed. The foods we featured at this tasting experience included ancient tepary beans, mesquite, cholla buds, and heritage corn—all ingredients that are symbols of survival, resilience, and a deep connection to the land. Some of these foods have been cultivated for thousands of years by Indigenous farmers who understand the landscape and how to thrive in it. They are foods that were nearly erased from history, but today, they are at the forefront of a cultural resurgence.

At the heart of this celebration were Chefs I travelled with that brought together the ancient and the contemporary. From the rich, nutty flavor of mesquite flour to the delicate sweetness of cholla buds, every dish told the story of the land and its people, ancient and contemporary. It was especially intrigued by the lead chef's committment to honoring the knowledge passed down through her community for generations and infusing that wisdom into modern cooking. There were faster ways to make a dish, but she continually noted, our culinary traditions are what sustain us. She was an alchemist, massaging the spirit of the ancestral ingredients she worked with to bloom onto the palate. This bloom did not stop at the plating, the drinks, desserts, and pairings further highlighted the diversity and richness of Native Arizona’s ingredients, elevating them in ways that spoke to both tradition and innovation.

As Native communities  reclaim  the land, the culture, and the food of their ancestors, I often think, that the land is also reclaming us. We have been separated far to long from "Her" Spirit and she is calling her children home. 

As I was leaving Conde Nast's headquaters and walking back to my hotel,  I felt a deep sense of peace, not just in the experience, but in the movement we are all part of—a movement that refuses to let Indigenous cultures be forgotten, that celebrates Native sovereignty and Indigenous resilience, and that honors the lands that continue to nourish and sustain us. 

Flavors of Arizona for Conde Nast was a declaration of  communion of two cultures, a show of strength, unity, and a shared commitment to uplifiting Native Voices and Communities through Conde Nast's platforms and it was an invitation to the world to experience and embrace the beauty and wisdom of Indigenous Arizona. I was invited back to NYC to produce again a Native Arizona Experience is 2026  This next experience  will be alfresco for 175 culinary national and global influencers under the night sky in NYC. I can already see in my heart, where all my work stems from, the twinkling lights of  skyscrapers, Native Chefs sharing their stories and the attentive guests having a delicate and once is a lifetime shared culinary experience. I believe this isn't my work, but my calling to elevate and connect the place where my ancestors lay buried with the wider world. 

We are our stories, and if the are not shared, what becomes of them? There is so much in our human lives to deal with in our collective and daily struggle. I choose to create "Beauty" and walk the  "Beauty Way" as the Navajos call it in prayer. May you and yours "Walk in Beauty".

Sincerely,

Jeffrey 




This Navajo/Diné traditional prayer is called “The Beauty Way.” 

Here it is in Diné—the Navajo name for their nation—and translated into English.

In beauty I walk
With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again
It has become beauty again
It has become beauty again
It has become beauty again

 Hózhóogo naasháa doo

Shitsijí’ hózhóogo naasháa doo
Shikéédéé hózhóogo naasháa doo
Shideigi hózhóogo naasháa doo
T’áá altso shinaagóó hózhóogo naasháa doo
Hózhó náhásdlíí’
Hózhó náhásdlíí’
Hózhó náhásdlíí’
Hózhó náhásdlíí’





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