While his mother attended Black Hills State University, Sherman spent extensive time researching and reading at the local library, which helped fuel his interest in gastronomy. Then during high school and college he worked as a field surveyor for the Black Hills National Forest and taught himself how to identify botanical species and understand native plants which later became central to his cooking philosophy. Sherman moved to Minneapolis eventually making a name for himself by strictly avoiding "colonial ingredients" like beef, pork, chicken, dairy, wheat flour, and cane sugar. He focuses entirely on pre-contact ingredients native to North America, such as bison, wild rice, cedar, and sumac.
In 2014 he founded The Sioux Chef and in 2021, he opened the critically acclaimed restaurant Owamni in Minneapolis, which won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. He co-founded the non-profit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS). Through this, he operates the Indigenous Food Lab to expand regional food security and education, with active plans to open a satellite location back in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Chef Sean Sherman's new downtown Minneapolis restaurant Indígena by Owamni opens Tuesday at the Guthrie Theater. The much-anticipated new restaurant is just a few blocks away from its predecessor, Owamni, the restaurant that earned Sherman and his team numerous accolades, including a James Beard award. Sherman describes his work and his team’s work as storytelling. “That’s a big core of what we’re doing. We're using food as our language. We're using food as our story and our platform. So, this for us is a stage also.” Indígena by Owamni opens for regular service Tuesday, June 23. Reservations are open through OpenTable, with walk-ins welcome after 9 p.m. A grand opening is set for July 4. [Minnesota Public Radio]
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