They dreamed of bringing a Native fine dining to Arizona. A year in, they're moving on

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this article was incorrect about the status of The Table restaurant. Chefs Jaren Bates and Brett Vibber are leaving the restaurant, however, the restaurant at the Junipine resort will remain open, offering a revised menu after the departure of the chefs.

The chefs at the helm of The Table at Junipine, who opened a foraging-focused fine dining restaurant at the Sedona resort, are leaving at the end of the month. James Beard semifinalist chefs Jaren Bates and Brett Vibber took over The Table on Aug. 4, 2022, after the pair hosted three years of WILD Arizona Cuisine pop-up dinners featuring native, foraged and traditional Indigenous ingredients. The brick-and-mortar restaurant was one of The Arizona Republic's most anticipated restaurant openings of 2022.

Vibber told The Republic that he was leaving the restaurant to pursue his other passions, such as teaching, and he already has a new partnership lined up with an Arizona farm.

Bates is staying onboard at the Junipine resort for another month to help with the transition as the restaurant will remain open but with a new farm-to-table menu. After that, he plans to take a well-deserved break.

"I've been doing this for 18 years. In those 18 years, I've only ever had one official vacation where I didn't worry about work and that was two years ago," he said.

What made The Table a uniquely local dining destination

Diné chef Bates started cooking on his family's farm in New Mexico when he was young. Later, when a knee injury marked the end of his college football scholarship, he shifted focus and attended Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Scottsdale and worked at a number of Phoenix restaurants.

Bates and Vibber met when Bates started working at Cartwright's Modern Cuisine in Cave Creek, where Vibber was the executive chef. They bonded over their love of foraging and cooking with indigenous southwestern ingredients. After Cartwright closed at the end of 2019, the two launched WILD Arizona Cuisine in January 2020, hosting whimsical pop-up dinners made with foraged ingredients.

The duo spent over a year looking for the right location to open a brick-and-mortar and decided on the Sedona resort because the location allowed them to forage most of their ingredients, use produce grown by an onsite gardener and source meats locally.

Though the restaurant was Vibber's "dream come true" and Bates' "happiness in heart," the amount of work proved astronomical for the team of two.

The restaurant at The Junipine will continue to serve an Arizona-themed menu, but it will lean toward more of a farm-to-table style rather than anything as "eclectic or complex as we're doing now," Bates explained. The team is still looking for a replacement chef.

A loss for Sedona is a gain for Mortimer Farms

For Vibber, life has taken a different direction over the last year. He realized he needed a change that would allow him more time with his family, which includes his 11, 9 and 1.5 years-old children.

"I like writing about wild foods, teaching people how to forage and harvest wild foods and I enjoy teaching people how to cook," Vibber told The Republic. "I’m also trying to free up some more personal time to spend with my family."

To that end, Vibber has accepted a new role as the culinary director at Mortimer Farms, a family farm in Dewey, where he helped design the kitchen. There, he said he would oversee and elevate all food events such as festivals, weddings, private events and concerts. In addition, he plans to offer cooking classes, chef field trips and a monthly 50-person farm-to-table dinner with Arizona wine pairings.

Those who wish to experience WILD Arizona Cuisine have until the end of August to visit The Table. The restaurant will remain open with a new menu starting in September.

Those interested in experiencing Vibber's cuisine can visit the Mortimer Farms website for details on upcoming dinners and events.

Details: The Table, 8351 N. Highway 89A, Sedona. 928-282-3375, junipine.com/dining.

Details: Mortimer Farms, 12907 E. State Route 169, Dewey.  928-830-1116, mortimerfarmsaz.com.

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Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The chefs at Sedona's first Native fine dining restaurant are leaving