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When Kevin Lewis started working at Ko’Sin, a family restaurant at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in 2003, he dreamed of working at the resort’s fine dining restaurant Kai. 

Kai, which means “seed” in the Pima language, is one of metro Phoenix’s most opulent dinner destinations.

Lewis got his foot in the door at Kai as a server assistant, then spent six years climbing the ranks, ultimately becoming the restaurant’s sommelier. But Kai is more than just a workplace for Lewis; the restaurant offered a place for his career to blossom, and he’s been part of the team that’s brought Kai internationalacclaim for its work celebrating Native American culture and cuisine. 

Recently, however, Lewis hasn’t been able to spend time contemplating the flavors of Kai chef Ryan Swanson’s dishes and carefully selecting the perfect wines to pair with them.

Instead, he’s focused onhis health.

In early 2021, Lewis, 36, was diagnosed with stage four adenocarcinoma cancer. He’s currently undergoing biweekly chemotherapy treatments and fighting to be around for his family.

Lewis’ girlfriend Rebecca Uribe and coworkers at the resort started a fundraiser to help offset his mounting medical bills and start a fund for his children, who are 5 and 7.

“I can’t put into words how grateful I am,” Lewis said. “I didn’t know that it was getting put together and once I got word that some of our friends were putting it together, I couldn’t control emotions.”

How he went from server assistant to sommelier

Since he started at the resort, which is located on the Gila River Indian Reservation, Lewis said he aspired to work at Kai. The destination restaurant is world-renowned for bringing attentionto Native American cuisine by translating traditional ingredients and recipes into ultra high-end dishes. 

Lewis is a member of the Pima Tribe and the Gila River Indian Community. Working at Kai allows him to celebrate the cuisine of his culture and share it with guests from all over the world, he said. 

“As a tribal member, seeing the culture reflected in essentially everything we do is amazing,” Lewis said. “The whole experience is completely out of left field for some people which makes it that much more memorable. For us to continue telling the story of the tribe is great.”

But while he set his career aspirations on working at Kai, he didn’t envision going into the world of wine. He made his way up the ranks working as a food runner, expediter, server and then general manager of the restaurant. As a job requirement, Lewis studied to pass the introductory exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers. Wanting to learn more about wine and stay competitive with other experts, Lewis then became certified as a sommelier in 2011. 

Even still, it wasn’t until the previous sommelier left that Lewis realized he had all the skills he was looking for in a new hireto fill the position.

“One night I was driving home and thinking the next person who takes over the wine program is going to need to know the wine list, the food, pairings with the food and know our clientele,” Lewis said. “Then I was like wait a minute, that’s me.”

In 2013, Lewis took over the restaurant’s wine program and dove into the work of pairing Kai’s Native American cuisine with wines from all over the world. 

Before the restaurant shut down in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lewis worked closely with chef Ryan Swanson to pick wines to compliment each dish. 

“Working with him has been a great experience because I’ve gotten to build my friendship with him over the years,” Swanson said. “When it comes to professionalism, he’s the real deal. He shows up every single day gets the job done, he is the first one in, one of the last to leave. He is a professional through and through.”

Swanson said he and Lewis have two methods for finding the perfect pairings. Either the chef will make a tasting menu and Lewis sips wines while eating to see what compliments each dish. Other times, the duo will try wine together and Swanson will be inspired to create a dish to pair with a wine Lewis loves. 

“We have a great relationship, almost like a sparring partner,” Swanson said, describing their relationship as more like that of “brothers” than friends or coworkers. 

‘He’s just got a really big heart’

The day Lewis shared the news of his diagnosis with the team at Kai was the last time he visited the restaurant. Shortly after the new year, Lewis was feeling sick and had to miss work. What doctors initially thought was pancreatitis developed into a more serious diagnosis by mid-January.  

Swanson said watching his friend gather the restaurant staff to break the news was a “tough moment.”

“Obviously we were just all standing in the dining room in shock,” Swanson said. 

On March 1, Lewis started an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy treatments. Every other Monday, he endures four hours of treatment. Afterward, he takes a pump home, which continues administering medicine through a port on his chest. On Wednesday he goes back to the doctor to get the pump removed.

This cycle is set to repeat for the next six months, Lewis’ girlfriend and primary caretaker Rebecca Uribe said. They’re not sure just how long Lewis will have to keep fighting, she said.

“This is something he’ll have to do for the rest of his life. It’s not something that’s going to be eliminated,” she said.

Uribe, who also worked at the resort, has been furloughed since the beginning of the pandemic. She picks up part-time shifts at Target, but since Lewis started treatment, she needs to be around to help him.

Mounting medical bills and a loss in income led Uribe and a group of friends from work to create a fundraiser for Lewis. So far, it’s raised more than $24,000. Any money that’s left over after Lewis pays his medical billsand family expenses will be put into a fund for Lewis’ children, Uribe said.

Lewis said the number of people who have donated surprised him the most. So far, more than 230 people have chipped in to help pay his bills.  

“Kevin is a very humble person so sometimes it’s hard for him to grasp the impact that he has on his family and on his friends,” Uribe said. 

Through to his work at the restaurant, Lewis impacts many customers and guests at the hotel as well, Swanson said 

“He’s a family man, he’s a member of the tribal community. He’s somebody that’s been a big part of the history of this restaurant and the community,” Swanson said. “It’s a blessing to see that everybody’s has turned out to support him and are willing to offer support.”

While the restaurant has reopened as pandemic restrictions ease, Swanson said it’s not the same without Lewis there polishing glasses in the morning when he flips the lights on in the kitchen. 

“As a person, he’s very quiet at work, quiet and humble,” Swanson said.  “But he can also be so carefree, easy going and funny. He’s just got a really big heart.”

Details: gofundme.com/f/help-support-kevins-fight

Reach the reporter at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @tirionmorris, on Facebook at Tirion Rose and on Instagram at tirionrose

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