Shirley Sneve
ICT
The Sioux Chef is on the move.
The Indigenous-owned restaurant is moving and expanding in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sean Sherman, famously known as the Sioux Chef, is changing the name of the restaurant when it moves to the Guthrie Theater in late May or early June.
Indígena by Owamni (pronounced: In-DEE-Hay-Na), will have an expanded space, mission and menu, said Sherman, the Oglala Lakota citizen and James Beard award-winning restaurateur. The previous name was just Owamni.
“We felt like the name just kind of crossed over colonial borders. We use the word Indigenous all the time and it just felt like a little bit more inclusive, especially to our Indigenous communities south of us,” Sherman said,” We want to redefine not only what Indigenous fine dining means, but also, what is American foods really, if we cut away colonial borders look at the foundation of what is everything around us, which is all this massive diversity.”
The new location, located next to the Mississippi River in the Guthrie Theater, more than doubles Owamni’s original space.
It’ll turn us from a 78-seat restaurant to a 204-seat restaurant and approximately 100 patio seats.
The Guthrie Theater produces classic and contemporary plays across three stages, and has classrooms and public spaces to develop the next generation of theater artists since 1963. Joseph Haj serves as the theater’s artistic director.
Owamni gained an international reputation for its adherence to a strictly Indigenous menu, meaning no colonial ingredients such as beef, pork, chicken, dairy, wheat flour and cane sugar, Sherman instead highlights true agricultural products of North America, such as corns, beans, squash, wild game, birds, fish and Native plants.
“We’re creating a special chef’s table that can seat 12 to 16 people, so we can bring in more guest chefs. We can do some of these themed dinners more consistently and just have a lot of fun with that kind of style of culinary, which is a lot more creative and that the chefs really like it because they get to really play around with the food and make things look beautiful,” Sherman said.
Indígena by Owamni will have an expanded menu offering steaks, and larger game cuts such as bison, elk, and venison; a full oyster bar and expanded seafood offerings highlighting the Indigenous diaspora; and a comprehensive bar program specializing in BIPOC-produced beer, wine, and spirits, alongside inventive cocktails and mocktails. BIPOC meaning Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities.
The restaurant will also introduce a pre-theater menu tailored for guests dining before Guthrie performances, as well as post-show drinks and bar food service, according to the news release. Reservations will be available via OpenTable.
As part of its next phase, Indígena by Owamni is working toward a zero-waste model by collaborating with purveyors to eliminate plastic and single-use packaging, reinforcing its commitment to environmental stewardship.
To support the launch, acclaimed Chef Joseph Shawana will join as chef-in-residence for the first three months, helping to shape and debut the new menu. Shawana is Odawa, part of the Three Fires Confederacy. Born and raised in Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve located on Manitoulin Island in Ontario.
Indígena operates under North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems, serving as the nonprofit’s for-profit arm. The nonprofit organization is committed to addressing the economic and health crisis affecting Native communities by re-establishing Native foodways. Through its educational programs, the Indigenous food lab, and its award-winning restaurant, the food systems organization works to restore Indigenous food knowledge and sovereignty across the continent.
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