Acclaimed Indigenous restaurant Owamni to relocate to Guthrie Theater in 2026

Chances of getting a reservation at Owamni will dramatically increase next spring.

That’s because Sean Sherman’s James Beard Award-winning restaurant is moving two blocks east to become the resident full-service restaurant at the Guthrie Theater.

“It’s just such a wonderful move,” said Sherman, the chef and the co-founder of Owamni and North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS). “The Guthrie is massively iconic in the city, and the space is just so much bigger. It’s going to open up so many doors.”

Owamni will take over the space last occupied by Sea Change, which shut down during the pandemic and never reopened.

“We’ve been working really hard to find a world-class restaurant to come into that space,” said Guthrie artistic director Joseph Haj. “That it turned out to be Sean Sherman and Owamni is more than we ever dreamed of.”

Co-founded by Sherman and former business partner Dana Thompson in 2021, Owamni opened to immediate acclaim for its focus on Indigenous cuisine. The kitchen avoids ingredients introduced by colonizers, such as wheat flour, cane sugar and dairy, and instead highlights the flavors of North America.

Its first location in Water Works Pavilion — a restored flour mill overlooking Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls), and the longtime home of the restaurant Fuji Ya — is owned by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Opening in Water Works Pavilion “was so serendipitous,” Sherman said, “because we were able to bring so much attention to the land, to the space, and to the Native community and culture” of the Mississippi River.

The restaurant outgrew its home almost immediately. Reservations consistently sell out, with names on the waitlist that never get a seat. “We’ve maximized what we can do at the Water Works kitchen, just because of how busy we are and how many people come through the door,” Sherman said.

Owamni’s five-year lease with the Park Board comes to an end in March 2026.

“We’re proud to have played a role in the launch of such a unique and important restaurant,” said Al Bangoura, superintendent of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

“Owamni’s incredible success brought national and international attention to the new Water Works, its beautifully restored park pavilion, and the layers of history and significance of the land around the St. Anthony Falls area,” Bangoura said, adding that the board wishes Sherman and the restaurant “continued success.”

The board will field proposals for a new restaurant over the winter, with a projected opening in summer 2026.

Having the restaurant open means that all of its spaces will be activated, Haj said. And, importantly, actors and theater professionals will have a space where they can now decompress and gather. “It feels like that’s the Guthrie coming to full life in ways that are thrilling,” Haj said.

Sherman has had a relationship with the Guthrie since a 2022 power outage at Owamni kept the restaurant dark for two months; he used the former Sea Change kitchen to cater pre-booked events. Last year, Sherman staged photos in the space for his forthcoming cookbook, “Turtle Island.”

Now, he said moving his restaurant into that space feels like “a natural evolution.”

“It’ll bring a lot of energy to that beautiful space,” he said. “It’s going to help us grow, to have more capacity, to feed more people, and we’ll be able to continue to be leaders with Indigenous foods. We want to continue to showcase what’s possible in that culinary world. This is a massive upgrade.”

Sherman is aiming to make a rapid transition into the Guthrie by spring, where he’ll have room to spread out in the kitchen and add new features to the menu, such as pre-theater bar snacks and more seafood options.