Owamni Celebrates Third Anniversary With Eyes on Future

Plus: Chef and founder Sean Sherman reflects on the restaurant’s progress and personal growth
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There is a certain joy around Owamni. As I stood on the patio overlooking Owámniyomni, a Dakota name for St. Anthony Falls, it was hard not to notice how remarkable it is that Owamni exists. Everywhere I looked, Native people were working and celebrating and smiling that it is their place, the most acclaimed restaurant in Mnísota, named the Best New Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation in 2022.

“It feels like a blur, but I feel really lucky,” chef and founder Sean Sherman told me. “We continue to be sold out every night which is an amazing sign. We see people coming to Minneapolis just to be here.”

At the party, there were Native makers and entrepreneurs selling jam, syrup, and jewelry, as well as Native dancers and tours of the Native plantings on the site by Linda Black Elk. We also got a chance to sample the summer menu of Owamni, and I was impressed at the quality of the food in a party buffet, while at the same time, the team was running a full restaurant. I loved the mushroom dish with salsa matcha—exploding with flavor. Green gumbo with alligator and shrimp was deep, rich, and comforting. The amarillo mole in the stuffed green tomatoes was another highlight.

I’ve talked before about finding the food at Owamni to be typically under-seasoned, that the technique here is clearly good, but the food can lack salt, lacks pop. Owamni is creating something new—and finding the sweet spot of highlighting ingredients while delivering deliciousness is difficult. That was not the case Friday: everything I tasted had assertiveness—full seasoning, full flavor, full embrace of what they call “non-colonized” ingredients. I talked with chef/founder Sean Sherman about the progress he’s seen at the restaurant, and the growth he’s achieved personally.

How did the Owamni of today come about?

In the beginning days, because it was a Park Board location, we thought it would be a Sea Salt-style restaurant. But when we saw the view and the space we decided to switch to dining. We’re just rolling with the punches. Last year, I pushed the restaurant into the nonprofit [NATIFS, North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems] to make it more intentional, and use it as the engine so we can have job creation. We have 100 staff working for the entire year.

How has Owamni changed and matured over time?

Our staff has really settled in. We challenged ourselves by doing the tasting dinners, and challenged ourselves to change the menus four times a year. We’ve had some pieces that have stayed on, but we’re an open book, always open for change as it comes. There’s no blueprint for what we’re doing.

The Native staff is rare and many people have been there for three years. 

Over 70% of our staff identifies as Indigenous. That’s our goal, to create spaces where people can learn and develop their own skills.
 

What role do you see yourself playing in the restaurant going forward?

I think because of all the attention I get as a chef, I see my role as opening doors for other people. There should be restaurants like this all over the country, it’s unfortunate that it’s still so unique. It’s unfortunate that Owamni is still essentially the only one of it’s kind. It’s a really important time to shine a light on the importance of all the diverse Indigenous culture and reconnect with the food.

What’s next for you and the nonprofit NATIFS?

We’re working on showing people how to cook Indigenous recipes in school systems and hospitals, we’re moving into Montana right now with our first job opening outside Minnesota to help us build this model in Bozeman. It’ll create this same situation of food distribution and education, and eventually a restaurant which will create jobs and move food product. Our goal is to set up multiple food labs and restaurants all over the country. We’re already working in Anchorage, in Honolulu, in Chicago, and more to come.

What’s next for you personally?

I’m finishing work on a new cookbook that tells the story of Indigenous food in North America—it’s a big book. Some of the recipes will be easy to make in your own home, with ingredients you can find at the Indigenous Food Lab based at Midtown Global Market, but a lot of it is really just for education.

I set as a goal to create food access, creating to move the food around, and educational systems to learn about all the amazing plants, amazing regions, diverse cultures, just looking at North American food differently.

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