Minnesota Best in the US - New Indigenous Restaurant Owamni

Minnesota Restaurant Owamni Wins Best New Restaurant in the US Award

If you think of the James Beard Foundation Awards as the Restaurant Oscars or the Food So Good It Makes You Sing Grammy Awards, then you'll understand just how awesome it is Owamni, a full-service Indigenous restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has taken home the award for Best New Restaurant.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JUNE 13: Krystle Mobayeni and Millie Peartree speak onstage with winner Owamni during the 2022 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards at Lyric Opera of Chicago on June 13, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Schear/Getty Images for James Beard Foundation )

Owamni is co-owned by Dana Thompson and Chef Sean Sherman and opened last summer. In a story by Justin Jones on TwinCities.Eater.com, at the award ceremony, Chef Sherman said,

“People of color everywhere have been affected by colonialism, and we just went through centuries of racist bullshit...This is showing that we can get through that, that we’re still here. Our people are here, our ancestors are proud tonight. We’re doing something different. We’re putting health on the table, we’re putting culture on the table, and we’re putting our stories on the table. We hope that one day we can find Native American restaurants in every single city.”

According to their website, owamni.com/,

"We feature indigenous food, flavor, and culture. Our menu is curated around a mix of Indigenous game, fish, birds, and insects along with wild plants, Native American heirloom farm varieties, and locally grown produce.
"Our decolonized approach avoids dairy, wheat flour, cane sugar, beef, chicken & pork — colonial foods not originally from this land. We prioritize purchasing from Indigenous food producers first while supporting the region’s amazing and diverse local food growers."

Some Items from Owamni's Spring 2022 Menu

Wamakhaskan - Game: Red Cliff Lake Trout, white bean bread. Game Tartar, Cheyenne Rive bison, duck egg aioli, pickled carrot sumac, Aronia (chokeberries), tostada.

Watho - Plants: Cedar Maple Baked Beans, Hard Harvested Wild RIce with currant and root vegetables, and Blue Corn Mush.

Desserts: Wild Rice Sorbet, Sunbutter Bars, and Maple Chaga Cake.

See the whole menu here: owamni.com/our-menu/

Where Is Owamni?

Owamni is inside the Water Works Pavilion in Mill Ruins Park, between 3rd Avenue South and 5th Avenue South. The address is 420 South First Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55401.

You'll find hours of operation and much more on their website: https://owamni.com/