Mark Miller opened the Fourth Street Grill in 1979 in Berkeley, CA. It was then that Southwestern cuisine was first offered at a dining establishment located outside of the Southwestern United States. In the twenty-plus years since then, Miller's name and career have been synonymous with Southwest cuisine.
During that time, Miller has conducted and documented the many intensive inquiries into the history and techniques of Southwest cuisine. It was Miller’s unrelenting dedication to the cuisine that has led to its increasing popularity today. Miller and his Coyote Cafe restaurants are as close as one may come to the branding of a cuisine.
Miller, an academic at heart and a spirited world traveler, has presented his discoveries of Southwestern, Latin/ South American, and Asian foods through a string of successful, enthusiastically-inspired restaurants in the United States and Japan, and in March 2002, Australia. Each opens minds and mouths to the delicious permutations possible when humans group in search of a good meal.
Miller has succeeded by getting in on the ground floor of a number of culinary tremors that metamorphosed into trends and then passed into general acceptance.
Mesquite grilling – Miller was among the first to harness the wood smoke when he opened his first restaurant, Fourth Street Grill, in Berkeley in 1979.
Third-world cuisine – the dishes at this 1981 Santa Fe Bar and Grill in Berkeley were “exclusively non-European,” venturing to Latin America and the Caribbean for inspiration.
Southwestern – when he moved to Santa Fe and conceived Coyote Cafe in 1987, Miller was acknowledged as one of the founders of American regional cuisine.
And don’t forget Western – Miller’s big-budget 1991 production, Red Sage, in Washington, D.C., pays homage to a region that embodies an American ideal that’s not “European, Asian or Spanish.”
Miller’s most recent restaurant, named Wildfire, opened in Sydney, Australia in 2002 across the harbor from the famed Sydney Opera House. Miller and his restaurants have been recognized with national acclaim and have received, among others, The Ivy Award, Food Arts’ Silver Spoon Award, Esquire’s Best New Restaurant Award (Red Sage) and the James Beard Award for Best American Chef – Southwest.
Over the years, Miller has been celebrated as the founder of modern Southwestern cuisine. He has authored ten cookbooks, all centered on the elements, preparation and history of Southwestern cuisine. His newest cookbook, Red Sage, was just recently released to critical acclaim and much anticipation. Likewise, his oldest cookbook, Coyote Cafe, was just re-released after reaching the impressive book sales milestone of 100,000 copies. To date, Miller has sold more than one million copies of his cookbooks and posters.
Along with his restaurants and books, Miller has worked extensively with foods and food companies for the gourmet and retail market. His own line of Southwest foods, Coyote Cocina, has 30 products. His fire-roasted salsa recently received the best salsa award from Food & Wine magazine. He continues to work with major international food companies, airlines and hotels as a consultant. He also stays connected to the academic world through his teaching on food and anthropology at the University of New Mexico.
