"Somehow, there are only a handful of Indigenous-focused restaurants in the United States, a fact that alone would make the 20-course tasting menu experience from Choctaw and Chickasaw chef David Skinner a worthy destination. But what Skinner is doing at Ishtia, in a bijou block within the outlying Southeast Texas city of Kemah, is so much more than filling a gap. Skinner pairs the meal with plenty of lessons in Indigenous foodways, including the demystification of Native cuisine as “foreign.” It starts on the second floor: Skinner sets the stage with a series of snacks, including a delicate corn sphere that resembles cured egg yolk, and a reading of a poem he wrote about the infamous Trail of Tears. Diners are then led through the kitchen, where slow-cooked tepary beans finish in clay pots over a blazing open fire, past an intricate map of the Indigenous communities of the Americas, and into the gently lit dining room adorned with dried berries and Native pottery. This is where the show truly begins. It’s easy to find yourself surprised by — swooning over, even — dish after dish imbued with familiar spices grown across the Americas, such as star anise and sumac, presented in theatrical form. There’s tanchi labona, a deceptively simple Choctaw soup made up of nixtamalized corn and pork. A silky mole — a closely guarded combination of chiles, chocolates, and spices that has been simmering for months — is crowned with tender braised rabbit. The chef — who established his fluency in fine dining at nearby Thai-cum-Native American Th Prsv and his former immersive enterprise, Eculent — knows when to keep it playful, too. He clears the air with a tableside burning of white sage paired with a smudge stick salad that’s dredged in an earthy walnut-sumac pesto and tied together with stalks of chives. Sweets aren’t prevalent in Indigenous cooking, Skinner explains, but pastry chef Evie Ramsey embraces the challenge, employing the heart of Native foodways — corn — through a corn cake soaked in corn milk and topped with fluffy corn husk-infused meringue. By the end of each meal, there’s a sense that this is the start of something bigger for Indigenous cuisine in America. In Choctaw, after all, Ishtia means “to begin.” — Brittany Britto Garley, Eater Houston editor" - Eater Staff