Out & About: The Westmoreland hosts acclaimed Native American chef

Chef Sean Sherman says that, although there are 573 Native American tribes in the United States, he is aware of only about 10 restaurants across the country that serve Native American cuisine.

Through The Sioux Chef, his Minneapolis-based catering business, he and his team work to revitalize and spread the word about America’s original culinary traditions.

The two-time James Beard Award-winner, an Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, S.D., prepared dinner for about 100 guests June 1 at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg.

Dinner With Chef Sean Sherman: Reclaiming Native American Food was the final program in a series connected to “Mingled Visions: The Photographs of Edward S. Curtis and Will Wilson,” an exhibition of modern and historical photographs of Native peoples running through June 30.

Foods for the sold-out dinner were locally sourced and foraged by the chef and his team, including Sioux Chef co-owner/COO (and spouse) Dana Thompson and culinary assistant Allen Michael. The mouth-watering menu included cranberry stuffed quail with wild rice cake and smoked lake trout with roasted sunchoke.

Sherman also educated diners on Native American farming techniques, wild food usage and harvesting, cooking techniques and Native cultural history.

Seen: The Westmoreland’s Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO Anne Kraybill with James Kraybill, chief curator Barbara Jones, Jim and Kathy Longacre, John and Amy Faith, Keith and Shirleah Kelly, Gay Wassserman, Jim and Karen O’Connor, Doug Evans and Greg Murman, Pat McCaughtry, Dave Knoepfle, Kathie Nelson, Linda Shooks, David and Marie Gallatin, Mandy Harrison, George and Ginnie Leiner, Randall Oaks, Mona Wiley, Patrick and Marianne Merlino, John and Pat Ward, Barbara Christner and Phil Miller.