THE CORNER TABLE
Corner Table has long been the best-kept-secret of the bucolic Kingfield neighborhood: The room is light and airily modern-museum-like, the food is both delicious and pristinely locally sourced, and the prices are more affordable than lots of comparable spots, especially on Sunday "vino + vinyl" nights when diners bring in their favorite vinyl records to spin. Unfortunately for Kingfielders, but fortunately for the rest of us, the secret is out: The place has been packed all winter with diners clamoring for carrot pierogies, pan-roasted ling cod, and locally raised grass-fed beef.... "People love to hear the stories behind the food," explains Pampuch, putting his finger on exactly what makes Corner Table the greatest of all neighborhood restaurants: It's a face you can know, in a place that tastes like here. -City Pages
THE GUEST CHEFS
Shane Bartels and Lisa Hanson are new chefs to the Twin Cities food scene. Shane has a varied background on the west coast as a forager and cook. He spent most of his time in San Francisco. Lisa Hanson, graduate of CIA, spent the last four years in New York, and moved to Minneapolis to get back in touch with her family who originally resides from Winona.
THE ARTISTS
Paul Renz is the Director of Jazz Studies at the West Bank School of Music and resident jazz guitar teacher at MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. At West Bank School of Music he is responsible for developing the curriculum, directing jazz ensembles and recruiting students and faculty. Renz has created and maintained four jazz ensembles of varying instrumentation, since 1994. In addition to the ensembles, Renz teaches jazz theory, composition, ear training, sight singing and improvisation classes. Renz performs regularly in the Twin Cities as a jazz guitarist and bandleader. He toured the East Coast in November 2006 and recently released a new CD, "Beyond Blues". www.paulrenz.com
Angela Kallsen is a visual artist and illustrator living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. She works primarily in oil and mixed media, including watercolor, acrylic, pencil, and charcoal. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues around the area including the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, the Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota, The Edina Art Center, the Hopkins Center for the Arts, and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.
"What is my work about? It is about everything around me and within me. I commune with nature by setting out in a canoe to see where the river takes me, by sitting on a pale blue rock on the great plains during that holy moment when the sun slips beneath the waist-high grass and the crickets sing in exaltation, and by snorkeling the Caribbean reefs where the womb-warm water embraces you, drives the ocean�s heartbeat in your ears, and allows you to play with all the children of the sea. That is what my work is about." www.angelakallsen.com