20.21

Address:
1750 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-253-3410, walkerart.org, wolfgangpuck.com

The Scene
The Walker Art Center has reopened with a new restaurant conceptualized and executed by Wolfgang Puck. Perched on the second floor, overlooking the Basilica of Saint Mary, 20.21 is a long and slender eighty-six seater, fronted by a small and pleasant bar that makes serious adult tropical cocktails. The room is stylized, with a nod toward mid-century modern; the north wall is glass, floor to ceiling, allowing for spectacular views. At night, the space is transcendentally cool. The crowd is a teeming mass of arty types, Kenwood swells, and eager eaters. The Rosenthal plates feature some of the coolest shapes and sizes in town. Sitting on Bertoia mesh chairs in a museum aerie and eating the thoughtfully plated cuisine has quickly become a local sensation.

Our Take
Fans of high-end Asian food can rejoice—20.21 fills a much needed void in the local dining scene. Playing to their strength, Cal-Asian cuisine, Wolfgang Puck and executive chef Lee Hefter have designed a restaurant much like their Santa Monica Chinois on Main, with a few Spago twists thrown in. Not everything is passed through the Asian prism: One of the better grilled-steak-and-whipped-potato dishes in town is found here (ditto the roasted beets and goat cheese or the smoked salmon and caviar blini). Service is eager and accomplished. From the homemade black bean–chili-sauce condiment to the dozens of small pickles that lie like hidden jewels on every plate, the small touches are overwhelmingly impressive (in a town where B+ constitutes perfection to many restaurateurs).

Chef Scott Irestone (Chinois Las Vegas) executes Hefter’s menu to perfection. Seafood dishes are his strongest suit, from the amuse-bouche of Lilliputian tuna tartare cones to his Gulliver of a Thai seafood red curry. That said, Puck’s signature grilled lamb chops, pineapple-glazed crispy quail, chicken in lettuce cups, and Sichuan flatiron steak are all as good as those dishes get. Desserts are spectacular. Crème brûlée and the Chocolate Bombe Spoonbridge and Cherry are finely crafted, but the bite-sized ice cream sandwich still has me swooning.

More Can Be Better
The trend during the last five years has been toward a Spartan Japanese-inspired plating style, featuring smaller portions that can be eaten like tapas, which enables diners to sample more of a chef’s food. Think Auriga, Alma, Levain, 112 Eatery. I love it. But I also love the Chinese tradition of family-style dining that employs intricate recipes and bold flavors, and 20.21 is the singular luxury example of this style in town. It requires a level of complexity that cannot be replicated at home—which is why you can, and will, return again and again to 20.21. It is truly high art.