Owamni by the Sioux Chef, or simply Owamni, is a Native American restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, that overlooks the Mississippi River. Owamni's majority Native American staff serves a menu made from indigenous ingredients such as game meats, corn, and wild plants.[1] The restaurant does not serve ingredients that were introduced to the region by Europeans, including butter, dairy, sugar, black pepper, wheat, chicken, beef, and pork.[2]
As of 2023 the restaurant is run as a not-for-profit.[3]
The restaurant was originally co-owned by cofounders Dana Thompson and Sean Sherman, a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe who is also the head chef.[8][9] Nearly two-thirds of the 70 staff members are Native American, representing several tribes: Anishinaabe, Mdewakanton and Wahpeton-Sisseton Dakota, Navajo, Northern Cheyenne, and Oglala Lakota.[9] In 2023 the nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) acquired the restaurant to be run as a not-for-profit.[3]
Some of the dishes served include amaranthtostadas with 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 corn's ancestor, teosinte.[10] Also served are sandwiches—arepas heaped with ground elk, sweet potatoes, and pepitas,[11] or, turkey,[12] or, the three sisters: black bean pureé, pickled squash, and corn.[13] Wojabe, a foraged berry sauce traditionally made with chokeberries, tops both sweet desserts and savory dishes.[14][11]
The restaurant "breaks its decolonized rule with beverages" by serving coffee,[7] indigenous wine,[4] and alcohol-free cocktails.[4] Beer comes from breweries owned by women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) individuals.[4]
^Restaurant of the year, 2021, in Cheng, Jon (December 19, 2021). "Owamni". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 19, 2022., Fifty favorite restaurants, 2021, "The Restaurant List". The New York Times. October 12, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2022. and "Artisan & Authenticity" award, 2022, "Awards 2022". La Liste. 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
