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In the long, low light of a desert evening, a greenish palo verde tree throws its leafless summer shadow onto the low rectangle of a gold wall. Next door, the shadow of a skinny-armed ocotillo adorns a curved copper-colored fence. Imagine the scene in the spring when the palo verde blooms gobs of bright yellow and the ocotillo sports tiny, shiny green leaves.

Fire sparks from the freestanding black iron fire pit. Quartzite floors the color of charcoal reflect the tones of gray in "earth/ether," a diptych by Kris Cox, one canvas on wood of pigmented lead, the other of pigmented wax. Golden sunflowers shine above the two ebonies of a community table intended for diners who want company. 

The tartar is the first course of a spa tasting menu presented by Paul McCabe, Mii Amo's Executive Chef. Mii Amo, spawned by Sedona's Enchantment Resort, is a destination spa within Enchantment. While Mii Amo will not actually open until November of 2000, I am here acting as a guinea pig for Paul's menu ideas--tough work, but someone has to do it! As Enchantment's Executive Chef, Paul's preparations reflect a southwestern bent. Mii Amo's food, however, has a more international flare. 

This is high Sonoran desert. Magnificent granite sculptures dominate the surreal landscape. These boulders change color as the desert day unfolds. Warm and golden sienna in the soft mornings, they become tinged with pinks and reds in the flame of the setting sun. High noon blazes on tawny rust-hued boulders in vivid contrast to deep blue skies.

"When people leave the restaurant, I want them to say, ‘This is the freshest, most unique meal I’ve ever had,’ " said Rick Boyer, Chef de Cuisine of Wright’s, the Biltmore’s primo restaurant. Fresh? Definitely. The greens were seeds just days before their appearance in our salads. Others, like the pea-sized cherry-red turnips and the toothpick-length carrots were mere infant vegetables. Unique is not a quality I actually look for in my food—it can all too quickly lead to weirdness—but Wright’s cuisine is certainly not ho-hum—and that’s to relish. 

To get my own look, I joined a small docent-led group for the ninety-minute Insights Tour. Wright’s office, the first of Taliesin’s original buildings is, as they all are, low to the ground, angular and bold. Quartzite boulders tawny, copper and gold were gathered from right here and arranged in temporary wood molds as walls. Set with "desert concrete," sand from the local washes mixed with Portland cement, the quartzite became Taliesin’s ornamentation, inside and out as well as its support. Wright designed buildings not to lash out from the land but to lace into it. He called it "Organic Architecture."