Kai High Fives

Arizona Foothills, May 2013

The Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa on the Gila River Indian Community outside Phoenix, Kai (“seed”) remains, six years on, Arizona’s only AAA Five-Diamond/Forbes Five-Star restaurant. Featuring “Native American with Global Influences” cuisine prepared by Chef de Cuisine Joshua Johnson and staff, Kai celebrates local and regional cuisine in an atmosphere that is exceptional, sophisticated, sacred. In Zagat 2013 America’s Top Restaurants Survey, Kai earned the highest rating as the best food-rated restaurant for Phoenix/Scottsdale, and Kai has also received recognition from OpenTableDiners’ Choice Awards as the #1 Best Restaurant in the United States for service. Kai hosts themed wine dinners; its lead sommelier, Thomas Klafke, and Chef Johnson offer pairings with wines from, in this instance, fine Italian vineyards.

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Will You Be My Blend?

Arizona Foothills, April 2012

“Michael [De Loach] and I met about five years ago,” recalls Lori Eccles, whose family owns Sun Devil Liquors in Mesa. “He was in Arizona kicking off his new winery, Hook & Ladder, and my sales rep from the beverage company called me to make an appointment to try some ‘new wines from the De Loach family.’ Why not?” They met, they quaffed, they flirted — and, this June, they will be they married amidst the vines of Hook & Ladder in viticulturally famed Sonoma County. Michael, whose dad founded DeLoach Vineyards, missed the first wine tasting they had discussed. But, “Michael made it to the tasting the next month, and we went to dinner and just had this awesome connection,” Eccles says, “and we have been together ever since.” The oenophilic honeymooners joyously suggest some wine blends to celebrate the nuptials. Please uncork responsibly.

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