Inside the iconic blue exterior of the Guthrie Theater, on the banks of the Mississippi River, a new restaurant is taking shape. Indígena by Owamni—currently slated to open in mid-June—is the evolution of the original Owamni, Sean Sherman’s James Beard award-winning spot that highlighted Indigenous ingredients and cuisine.
When we visited last week, Sherman’s team was busy testing recipes, unpacking boxes of dishware, cleaning stovetops, and attending to the hundreds of details that make a restaurant run smoothly. “We’re spending a lot of time getting everything ready,” Sherman told a group of journalists. “We’re going to have a lot of interesting music, a lot of good vibes—we’re excited to have this new, expanded version of what the original Owamni was.”
In addition to Indigenous ingredients that are more familiar to the Midwest—like bison or cranberries—Indígena will feature Indigenous products from all over the country, including seafood from the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast. “We’re going to have a lot of fun with those offerings, which will be very seasonal to those coastal regions,” Sherman said. “We’re really trying to push the boundaries of what modern Indigenous foods are and to continue the work we’ve already started.” Guests should watch for geoducks, razor clams, and periwinkles to make an appearance on the menu, in addition to fish from coastal regions around North America.
One of Sherman’s north stars is collaboration and using his platform to lift up the work of other Indigenous chefs and producers. He says Indígena will have an “open door” policy, welcoming Native chefs from around the country to put together special menus and demonstrations. “There are still only a handful of Native restaurants across the country today,” Sherman said. “We’ve had people like Nephi Craig from Arizona, very recently Crystal Wahpepah from Oakland, California, and Justin Pioche, who’s a chef from New Mexico.”
Sherman also spoke about his focus on putting restaurant-industry dollars into Native communities. “Our intention is always to purchase from Indigenous producers first and push our dollars toward Indigenous food production,” Sherman said.
The Indígena leadership team draws on the expertise and experience of Sherman’s longtime Owamni crew—there’s chef Lee Garman, the culinary director for North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), Sherman’s nonprofit that addresses economic and health crises in Native communities. Garman and Sherman traveled all over the world together as they researched foodways and ingredients for Indígena and for “Turtle Island,” Sherman’s new cookbook. “We are removing the ‘box’ that most restaurants sit in, which is Euro-centric, or French,” Garman told journalists. “Even many Asian and Mexican restaurants I’ve worked in kind of lived in those boxes. So, we really see this as a massive opportunity to modernize Indigenous food.”
Then there’s beverage director Noel Pedraza, who will oversee Indígena’s spirits and cocktails. Here again, the focus will be on Native and de-colonized ingredients (i.e., no spirits made from sugarcane). “We are focusing on BIPOC producers alone,” Sherman said, “with extra emphasis on Indigenous producers. We have a couple of wine producers out of California that are Native owned; we’re also getting wines from places in Mexico, Central America, and South America. We’ve had Māori wines from New Zealand.”
“We’re not using any lemon or lime,” Pedraza explained. “No rums at all, period … We’re doing our own infusions and creating our own flavors. We’re going to have fun.” In addition to spirits from Native producers and homemade mixers, Indígena’s bar will have an extensive nonalcoholic drinks list and a robust tea and coffee program. “We have a really knowledgeable bar staff” who will be happy to share the philosophy—and perhaps new-to-them ingredients—of Indígena’s beverage menu, Pedraza said.
Walking through Indígena, guests get a sense of both earth—in the burnt-orange and brown dishware and soft lighting—and expansive sky, in the space’s vaulted ceilings and tall windows overlooking the patio and the river. An open-concept kitchen means diners can see the chefs working (an element that is important to Sherman), and the larger dining area will accommodate many more patrons that the original Owamni location. “We are expecting a couple of big turns in this restaurant,” Sherman said, “with people coming to get in here before a show at the Guthrie, and then regular diners, and people spilling out afterwards.” He plans to keep Indígena open until 11 p.m. most evenings, with the traditional Monday closure. “Every restaurateur needs a breath,” Sherman said wryly. “You need to take a little time for yourself.”
It’s good advice, though it’s clear that it’s the giving—in uplifting Native voices, highlighting forgotten ingredients, and introducing Indigenous foodways to a wider audience—that gives Sherman’s life and work its meaning.
Indígena by Owamni, 806 S. Second St., Minneapolis; owamni.com. Opening mid-June.
