Chef Loretta Barrett Oden

Loretta Barrett Oden, Native-American chef, food historian and lecturer, began her passionate relationship with food as a small child at the side of her mother on the Citizen Potawatomi Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. From that early age, she has been conscious of the powerful connection between food and her Native-American culture and has spent most of her adult years studying, teaching and adapting recipes to preserve the culinary legacy of her upbringing.

Today, Chef Oden is the owner of the Corn Dance Café at the Hotel Santa Fé in New Mexico, the first restaurant dedicated to showcasing the amazing bounty of foods indigenous to the Americas. The Corn Dance Café brought Loretta international acclaim for its innovative menu and contemporary interpretation of centuries-old recipes. She has been featured in the Robert Mondavi "Great Chefs Series" and has appeared on numerous television series, including Barbara Pool Fenzl's PBS series, "Savor the Southwest," "Cooking Live," the TV Food Network's "In Food Today" and ABC's "Good Morning America." Chef Oden is currently filming a 13-week series for PBS entitled "Seasoned With Spirit, A Native Cook's Journey," featuring food as a focal point to the understanding of the Native-American culture.

Loretta has also created frequent presentation and fund-raising galas for the Institute of American Indian Arts, the Native American Preparatory School and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fé. In preparation for debuting a new restaurant concept in the Los Angeles area, she has relocated to California and is commuting between her Santa Fé restaurant and Los Angeles. Chef Oden is also actively seeking collaboration with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, and is pursuing another Corn Dance Café at the soon to be constructed, Native American Museum and Cultural Center in Oklahoma City.