Minnesota Chef Honored with Prestigious Culinary Award

A Minnesota chef was recently honored with a prestigious award in the culinary world. It's the Julia Child Award which is given each year to a chef demonstrating culinary innovation and activism.

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Julia Child, in case you aren't familiar, was and still is a big name in the culinary world. She's recognized as the person who brought "French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963," according to Wikipedia.

On the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts website, they say that the award "is given to an individual (or team) who has made a profound and significant difference in the way America cooks, eats and drinks.” Just like Julia did.

2023 Julia Child Award

This year's Julia Child Award was given to a well-deserving Minnesota chef at the 9th annual gala on Tuesday. It's a chef that you've probably actually heard of before because he's been making headlines for the past year or so.

If you're familiar with the restaurant Owamni in Minneapolis, you're also likely familiar with Chef Sean Sherman who is the co-owner. Owamni and Chef Sherman have won multiple awards over the past few years for bringing Indigenous food to the spotlight with an amazing restaurant and great food.

That's exactly why Chef Sherman was awarded this year's Julia Child Award.

With this award, Chef Sherman also gets a $50,000 grant from the Julia Child Foundation, according to MPR. The money was gifted to his non-profit, Native American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS). During his speech at the gala, he announced NATIFS will be gifting the grant to World Central Kitchen. In his speech, he said, “'That’s where the work is happening, that’s where the money should go.'”

World Central Kitchen is a non-profit that is "first on the frontlines, providing fresh meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises." So I definitely think this is a great place for that grant to go.