ABOVE: Vertical food at the newly renovated Walker Art Center’s Wolfgang Puck-run restaurant: Tuna Sashimi and Tartare with Yuzu Citrus-Soy Ponzu and Sticky Rice topped with Daikon-Carrot Salad.

This is totally off-topic and pretty much pointless, but how could we turn down a food review of the newly blinged-out Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The Star-Tribune is today running its review of 20.21, the all-digit-and-punctuation restaurant that was shoehorned into the Walker’s $130 million renovation. 20.21 is run—from a safe distance—by fusion-food-fuhrer Wolfgang Puck, who we believe is kept frozen in a meat locker most of the year, defrosting only around Oscar® time to harangue us all (via the medium of “Entertainment Tonight”) about whatever ludicrous chimerical cuisine he’s serving to the celebrities this time around.

But we digress. Rick Nelson of the Star-Trib notes that the restaurant is actually mostly art-free, save for a Warhol Marilyn keeping watch over the reservations list. The atmosphere, he says, is “starkly chic,” and suggests avoiding the Sunday brunch. The restaurant offers “multiculti dishes boasting bright flavors and looks as striking as any Joan Mitchell canvas hanging in the galleries below.” There’s that art metaphor we were looking for.

But remember what Peter DeVries said: “The murals in restaurants are on par with the food in museums.” You’ve been warned.

LINK: Minneapolis Star-Tribune > 20.21’s cuisine imitates art