Owamni by the Sioux Chef, also known simply as Owamni, is one of the few restaurants in the US serving Native American cuisine. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it is housed in what used to be a flour mill overlooking the Mississippi River at St Anthony Falls. This place was once a Dakota village known as ‘Owamniyomni’ or ‘place of the swirling waters,’ before the construction of the dams to support the mills that allowed modern Minneapolis to grow and flourish.

The heart of Owamni

When indigenous chef Sean Sherman co-founded Owamni with his then partner Dana Thompson in 2021, his goal was to offer a vision of what modern, “decolonized” Native American cooking can be. Owamni’s approach is not to serve historically accurate replicas of traditional dishes, but rather to create a contemporary menu using only ingredients endemic to North America. At the same time, Owamni has the goal of providing jobs for its majority Native American staff and supporting indigenous producers, using their ingredients to create delicious, nutritious menus that allow diners to experience the true flavors of the continent. Avoiding ingredients introduced to North America by Europeans means no wheat flour, cane sugar, or dairy products, for example, and no beef, chicken, or pork either. Instead, diners at Owamni will find a menu made up of heirloom grains and vegetables along with indigenous wild game including bison, elk, and turkey, and even insects. Every dish is focused on flavor and presented with flair. Being by default gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free, they are also ultra-healthy.

A red neon sign at the entrance to Owamni says, "You Are on Native Land,” setting the tone for the modern, decolonized dining experience that awaits inside. The interior is filled with the sound of various genres of Native American music and flooded with light from the ample windows. The busy kitchen is visible from the long bar. Weather permitting, diners can also sit on a patio overlooking the river, while passersby can stop in at Owamni’s beer hut. The overall mood, reinforced by the casual dress of the front-of-house staff, is friendly, relaxed, and informal.

Co-founder and original head chef Sean Sherman is better known to his followers as ‘The Sioux Chef,’ a moniker he came up for his social media profile and which also featured in the 2017 book he co-authored, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, which won the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1974, Sherman began working in kitchens as a teenager when his family left the reservation. He moved up the ranks in a series of Minneapolis restaurants while in his 20s, earning his first executive chef role at just 27 years of age. Within a few years, however, he was burnt out. While taking time off in Mexico, he realized how little he—or anyone else—really knows about the pre-colonial food traditions of his ancestors and made it his mission to discover and celebrate Native American cuisine. That mission led him to found first The Sioux Chef, an indigenous food education business and caterer, and later the non-profit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) along with its Indigenous Food Lab, which aim to address health and economic issues in Native American communities through food. The launch of Owamni in 2021 can be seen as the culmination of his efforts as a chef, educator, and activist.

In 2022, the year after it opened, Owamni was given the coveted title of Best New Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation. It was also included in the 2024 USA Today Restaurants of the Year list.

The Chef

Born in 1974 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Sherman is a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe. He grew up on his parents' farm and remembers roaming the prairies, hunting, and foraging for berries. He also remembers the unhealthy government-supplied industrial foods that dominated culinary life on the reservation.

Sherman worked in a series of Minneapolis restaurants in his 20s, rising to the rank of executive chef by the age of 27. While in Mexico a few years later, he had an epiphany that prompted a mission to discover and disseminate the food traditions of his ancestors. To this end, in 2014 Sherman founded The Sioux Chef, an indigenous food education business and caterer. Then in 2017 he co-founded the non-profit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) and its Indigenous Food Lab, dedicated to promoting Native cuisine. In 2021, he co-founded the indigenous restaurant Owamni in Minneapolis.

In 2019, Sherman received a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award, which recognizes those working to change the world of food for the better. In 2023, he won a Julia Child Award in recognition of his impact on the American culinary scene. The same year, he made TIME’s list of 100 Most Influential People.

Restaurant

The name Owamni comes from the Native name for the site on which this downtown Minneapolis restaurant stands, ‘Owamniyomni’. It translates as ‘place of the swirling waters,’ a reference to the waterfalls that were dammed to support the milling industry in what is now at St Anthony Falls. The restaurant is in fact housed in the 19^th century Columbia flour mill.

Opened in 2021 by Sherman and his then partner, Dana Thompson, Owamni is not only an indigenous restaurant showcasing pre-colonial recipes and ingredients, but also a focal point for Native American culture and community. A red neon sign inside the restaurant reminds guests “You are on Native Land.” The majority of the restaurant’s staff is Native American, the ingredients used in its dishes are sourced predominantly from indigenous producers, and every opportunity is taken to alert diners to the plight of indigenous communities. The restaurant also houses the non-profit activities of North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) and the Indigenous Food Lab.

In September 2023, Owamni was acquired by the non-profit NATIFS, enabling it to dedicate more resources to hands-on training, guest chefs, indigenous food R&D, and producer spotlights.

Owamni was named Best New Restaurant in 2022 by the James Beard Foundation and included in USA Today’s 2024 Restaurants of the Year list.

Recipes and dishes

Sherman’s culinary philosophy is based on what he calls the “decolonized diet.” This means avoiding foodstuffs introduced to North America by European settlers, such as wheat flour, cane sugar, dairy products, beef, pork, and chicken. His aim is for diners to experience the continent’s authentic flavors based on pre-colonial food systems, using ingredients sourced from indigenous food producers locally and nationally.

Respecting the seasons and the land, his menus feature traditional ingredients such as bison, wild game, and fish, as well as hand-harvested wild rice, foraged plants, and heirloom grains. Drawing on his ancestors’ knowledge and techniques, he creates innovative dishes that are local, seasonal, healthy, and flavorsome.

Examples include amaranth tostadas with a dip made from tepary beans and smoked trout, a crispy cricket seed mix with chili and maple, and bison tartare garnished with wasna and curled crackers made of wild rice and teosinte, an ancestor of corn.

In 2017, Sherman co-authored The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen, containing recipes created by interviewing older members of his community and researching traditional Lakota foods in the archives. The book won the 2018 James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook.

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