Mao and Asher, Now Appearing at 20.21

Faces are changing fast at the Walker Art Center‘s 20.21.

Chef Scott Irestone tendered his resignation abruptly last week. Executive sous chef Asher Miller — now acting head chef — said he was on vacation and returned to find that his boss of three years had left the Wolfgang Puck family, where he’d been working since 1996 (in Las Vegas, for Spago, Chinois, and Postrio, before coming to Minneapolis to open 20.21 in 2005).

"There was no indication anything was wrong before I left," Miller says. "All I know is, the parting of ways was very much Scott’s decision."

Miller, a veteran of Fermentations in Dundas, MN, and Cafe Barbette, also has been with the Walker restaurant since it opened. And he’s refreshingly forthright about his desire to take Irestone’s place.

"I want the job," says the slim, shaved-headed 27-year-old. "And I’m doing the job now. So it makes sense."

No word yet from Puck HQ, however, on whether or not they’re even considering Miller or plan to bring in another seasoned Wolfgang-inspired line man from Vegas or L.A.

No matter what happens, Miller promises the menu at 20.21 will remain consistent. There is, apparently, no room at all for a local man to experiment (which gives one a clue as to what might have ired Irestone, does it not?). The careful fusion of Asian and American tastes — quail in pineapple-black pepper sauce, fried calamari salad, Shanghai Maine lobster — is set in stone.

"Everything in the restaurant is per Lee Hefter [Puck’s first lieutenant out of Spago – Beverly Hills] and you just don’t mess with Chef Lee," Miller explains. "Our menu is and always has been Lee’s. But the cool thing about that is while everything stays the same, your job is to make it a little more perfect every time."

One thing at 20.21 has changed, however. The frothy and ebullient hot-pink Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe — a fixture in the lounge since the restaurant’s inaugural dinner — has been switched out with the dour, green-hued likeness of Mao Tse-tung.

Hey, Chef Lee. . . what’s the deal with that?