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The Guthrie Theater and North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems, known as NATIFS, announced Wednesday that Owamni — the James Beard Award-winning restaurant founded by chef Sean Sherman — will relocate to the Guthrie’s main-floor restaurant space.

Sherman said the move allows him to reimagine parts of the menu.

“Some theatergoer is going to come in there just looking for something quick, we'll have a lot of options for some quick-fire foods,” he said.

Sherman says he's grateful for Owamni's current location near St. Anthony Falls, but the Guthrie space offers more room.

“It just feels like a really wonderful, kind of natural evolution of expanding what we've already created.”

The Guthrie’s restaurant space, which features a bar and an open horseshoe kitchen, has been dormant since the pandemic. 

Sherman said the layout will allow diners to watch the chefs at work. 

“It's got a beautiful bar area when you first walk in there, and it's got a really cool open kitchen design that's kind of a horseshoe, you know, so people can kind of sit around and watch the chefs do their thing,” he said.

Guthrie Artistic Director Joseph Haj has long pushed to revive the space. 

“I've been sharing with everybody who will listen," Haj said. "I won't feel like the Guthrie is fully back post COVID until we have the ninth floor going again, and until we get that restaurant space open.”

Owamni, which focuses on modern Indigenous cuisine, is expected to open at the Guthrie next spring.

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Jacob Aloi

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Owamni, the James Beard Award-winning restaurant founded by chef Sean Sherman, will move in spring 2026 to the Guthrie Theater’s long-vacant riverfront restaurant space in downtown Minneapolis.

Award-winning Owamni to bring Indigenous cuisine to Guthrie Theater

Sean Sherman speaks into a microphone on a stage.

Award-winning Owamni to bring Indigenous cuisine to Guthrie Theater

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