Meet the people who share Native culinary traditions here at the Santa Fe School of Cooking!

Celebrate Native Cuisine with Two Incredible Chefs

One of Santa Fe’s most iconic traditions—the 103rd SWAIA Indian Market—is just around the corner! And while we’re always excited for a piece of golden, crispy frybread, there’s so much more to Native cuisine to discover and celebrate.

That’s where two standout chefs come in. For years, the Santa Fe School of Cooking has been honored to work with Chef Lois Ellen Frank and Chef Walter Whitewater—an incredible duo who bring history, creativity, and deep cultural knowledge to every dish they create.

Meet the Chefs

Chef Lois Ellen Frank is a James Beard Award-winning author, chef, and culinary anthropologist based in Santa Fe. For over 20 years, she’s documented Native American food traditions across the Southwest, publishing numerous articles and books—including Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations, which won the James Beard Award, and The Taco Table, which received the Glyph Award.

Lois holds a Ph.D. in Culinary Anthropology and is the chef and co-owner of Red Mesa Cuisine alongside Chef Whitewater. She’s dedicated her career to preserving and sharing Indigenous food traditions with modern audiences.

Chef Walter Whitewater (Diné/Navajo) is also part of Red Mesa Cuisine. He’s been featured on several cooking shows and co-authored two award-winning cookbooks with Chef Frank—Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations and Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky, which won two IACP awards in 2024.

Chef Whitewater has cooked at the prestigious James Beard House in New York and was one of the first Native chefs to do so. He’s also appeared in the PBS documentary Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico 2025, created by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.

Together, the two chefs have traveled around the world as part of the U.S. State Department’s Culinary Diplomacy Program, promoting Indigenous foods from the Americas in countries like Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Russia.

Experience Their Cooking

If you already have plans on Saturday, August 16, we’ll miss you at Dave’s Jazz Bistro, where Chefs Frank and Whitewater will be preparing a one-of-a-kind dinner.

But don’t worry—you still have a chance to learn from them! Join us on Thursday, August 14, for our Native American III Class, where they’ll walk you through an unforgettable meal featuring:

• White Bean, Butternut Squash, and Kale Soup
• Marinated Grilled Quail with Red Chile Honey Glaze
• Red Chile Potato Casserole
• Calabacitas
• Piñon Nut Cake with Pumpkin Sauce

Take the Recipes Home

Can’t make it to either event? You can still explore Native cuisine by picking up one of their award-winning cookbooks from our Market

Visit Santa Fe School of Cooking to learn more

These chefs don’t just cook—they teach, inspire, and preserve the ancestral knowledge behind every ingredient and method. We’re honored to have them as part of our culinary family, and we invite you to learn from them too.

Visit Santa Fe School of Cooking to learn more

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