Beyond the Plate: How Two Chefs are Healing the World
Wedensday September 17, 2025
12:00–1:00 p.m.
Hoversten Chapel, Augsburg University
The Minneapolis restaurant scene is world-class. Each year, chefs and restaurants are nominated and selected as some of the best in the country. Two of these chefs are not only culinary innovators; they are also social entrepreneurs, community organizers, and game-changers. Join us as we learn from their wisdom and stories of healing their communities and our world.
Chef Lachelle Cunningham
Lachelle Cunningham is known for cooking globally inspired comfort food that thwarts unhealthy stereotypes and fuses in global flavors. She began her culinary career by launching Chelles’ Kitchen and soon became known for her work as the founding executive chef of Breaking Bread Cafe in North Minneapolis. In 2018, she began building Healthy Roots Institute, with a mission focused on healing and social justice through food education, culinary arts, and entrepreneurship.
Chef Sean Sherman
A member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, Sean Sherman became an executive chef in his 20s. As a chef, he realized that nothing in the vibrant food scene represented what the people indigenous to this area ate. After years of research, he started The Sioux Chef, a company focused on regional Indigenous foods. He is author of a cookbook, cofounder of a restaurant, Owamni, and founder of a nonprofit, NATIFS, dedicated to re-establishing Native foodways.