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Show I X. THE TQR'UM November 5, 2003 Portrait in Converse Hall Paints Picture of the Past Westminster College of Salt Lake City: from Presbyterian mission school to independent Steve Peterson Staff Writer or smiling man, reclining in his office chair, fingers interlaced behind his head. Perhaps his presence has piqued your interest who is he and where did he come from? The man is former Westminster speech and drama instructor Jay W. Lees, an influential figure in the rich history of the college. He was a beloved faculty member for 37 years here at Westminster, said Lisa Actor, director of gift planning. Actor works with alumni on their estate plans she assists them with how money will be spent when they pur the college into their wills. By dealing with alumni, Actor learned about Lees. He paid for students books, offered the lead in the annual play What Wilbur Wrought (that he wrote and produced) to build confidence in insecure students or provided bus tickets home for the holidays, she said. A - . guidance Lees. one instance, in September 1955, when Lees made him the lead in the schools production voice shook, she was perspiring, and she could not stand still. of The previous acting experience had been in a kindergarten play. Lees merely shook his head, smiled, handed Parmer the script and waved goodbye. Parmer performed successfully. That experience and all the others turned me into a g, Incredible! Parmer, instructor emeritus forthright, outspoken person, ihe same meal, really the ingredients and the flavors never change. 1 love to eat. I love food. This is one reason 1 love things like Is he a yuppie? Maybe he is a hippy? He must be a yuppie! Well the truth is Tyson had just been experienc- ing independent restaurants and had discovered what I have dis- covered about a little restaurant ake called Cannellas. If your goal is to have a meal that has been delivered in a little plastic box by a semitruck, and then reheated in the in Salt times in mv life when it has i been nice to come across a chain restaurant, usually these moments occur while 1 am out in circles and half starved. 1 know if 1 stop at a chain restaurant 1 can always depend on my food tasting the same exact way. No matter what. It makes no difference what time of day it is, or what day of the week it is, 1 always know if 1 am having a craving for a Big Mac I can always get one thats the same as all the others. About three years ago my chain restaurant bubble was popped. My mind was opened 1 microwave, please dont go to Cannellas. They wont be able to help you out in your craving Italian for a less-than-fre- sh meal. Cannellas is located at 204 East 500 South; they mostly cater to the downtown lunch crowd during the week. Hours of operation are Monday through 1' rid ay 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and they are open for din- up to independent restaurants by my husband, Tyson. He took me to dinner at places I had never been before. . You mean to tell me we arent going to Olive Garden for dinner? 1 would ask him in an astonished tone. This guy is weird 1 would tell my friends, he only wants to visit these ner Thursday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. So what is the difference between a chain restaurant and an independently owned restaurant? For one thing your food is nor shipped in on a truck. The majority of items on a menu at your local chain are warmed up in a microwave and the ingredients rarely change. Freshness is quite an issue. It is actually sort of absurd, if you think about the fact that you can visit any chain in any city and you will be able to eat Parmer pleaded his only nothing apparently going for her and transformed her into a confident, strong- voiced, steady individual who could now go face the world. Neither McDonalds, Applebees, ('hills, Olive Ciarden, nor Puccis is worth visiting often. Although there have been Vigil. with Lees not to choose him, as Her final speech was as good as any. 1 could scarcely believe it. Jay had taken a person with Staff Writer he writes. He distinctly remembers nothing to offer the world. Her Meghan H. Dyfnock During Lees. felt sorry for her. Jay worked his magic. Her first speech was typical of those with I eye-meetin- of his time at Westminster, Parmer took all but one of his classes from sort of thing. One girl was a person with the face of some sort of generic anom- fondly remembered bv his former students. He is also featured prominently in two books, restaurants that arent over the state! My friends would ask man, but blossomed under the tutelage and speech class: Most of those in the class were not speech majors. In those days, few majored in that aly. Center, writes that Lees had a significant influence on both'his life and his career. Parmer came to Westminster as a timid young dwarf-lik- e is like, all Medical Jay W. Lees epitomizes Westminster Colleges commitment to classroom teaching. This idea is captured in a passage from Parmers book in which he describes Lees general - of town, lost, driving around gy and speech pathology at the University of Mississippi college by R. Douglas Brackenridge and I Drink Orange Juice with My Knuckle in My Eye by Westminster alumnus Lowell Judson Parmer. Brackenridge writes, More than any other individual during the last half century, Professor An unusual painting adorns the north wall next to the western first-floentrance of Converse Hall. In it sits a curious figure. For these reasons, in otolaryngolo- . Cannellas. Cannellas just celebrated anniversary in Salt Lake City. It also acquired a liquor license and now serves wine and beer. The restaurant is its 25 owned by husband-and-vvif- e team Joe and Missy Cannell. Most of the recipes at Cannellas were acquired from Joes mother, who was an immi- met both Joe and Missy, and because I am I sort of grant from Italy. I tried, unsuccessfully, to engage Joe in some I asked him to compare Cannellas to Olive Garden or Tuccis. fully expected him to rip on both restaurants. Instead, Joe told me all restaurants have their specialty and he respects that. He said he recognizes not everyone is going to love Cantjellas and he understands 1 that, too. He did tell me on opening day, we had 46 customers and some of those first customers still come here. So what sets Cannellas apart from other restaurants? Joe and Missys nephew, Dave Cannell, said Cannellas serves fresh, homemade food. Also, 1 The painting is on loan from the Jewett Center while it is being renovated. When the renovations are complete, the painting will be placed in or near the new theater that will be named the Jay Lees Courage Theater. The Lees legacy also lives on in the hearts of his former proved it by n as a becoming speaker and teacher before well-know- 1 left Utah. Parmer even wrote to Lees every year after he left until Lees death in 1985. . The painting in Converse is . the result of a campaign put together by alumni to raise funds for a remembrance of Lees. They initially wanted a sculpture but the idea turned to a painting that was done by former Westminster art Professor Don Doxey. ' they will customize any dish for anyone. He said they have had customers come in and tell him they are on a protein diet and they were able to cook a meal for this specific diet. Their lasagna is served vegetarian style unless the customer would like a meatball or Italian sausage with it. They also serve many different salads (from seafood salad to chicken salad) and sandwiches (from meatball sandwiches to ham sandwiches.) - According to Dave, Cannellas doesnt do much advertising. Unlike major corporations who spend millions of dollars per year on advertising their product, Cannellas relies mostly on word of mouth for their advertising. The interior of Cannellas is very quaint, classy and clean. Everyone there is friendly. I was fortunate enough to be taken on a tour of the entire restaurant and I can say the kitchen, after one of their busy lunch rushes, was still well kept and very clean. - The walls of the restaurant are decorated with art from local artists who are not charged to hang their work in the restaurant. Cannellas does- nt keep any of the money if the artists sell any of their work that is hung in the restaurant. students. - He changed peoples lives, said Actor. Hechal-- , lenged students to find their passions and pursue them. OJ Adding to the ambience, the tabletops are covered in tile designed by a local artist. What about the food? The food is amazing. The day I reviewed Cannellas I chose to have a salad with house dressing, and manicotti for my main dish. The food was fantastic. The dressing on the salad was unlike any salad dressing I have had, it was creamy and delicious. The lettuce in my salad didnt look like it had come out of a bag; it was still crunchy and fresh. My pasta was cooked just right; it wasnt limp overcooking and it wasnt crunchy from undercooking. The marinara sauce was delicious. It was sort of strange for me; I felt like the people at the restaurant actually took time to prepare this dish for me, it wasnt driven in on a truck! am a dessert addict and was surprised with the dessert, tiramisu, and I had a hard time not stuffing the entire plate into my mouth in one fast sweep; it I self-proclaim- ed was really that good. think Cannellas has really set itself apart from other restaurants by the relationships they have built with their customers. Dave has beautiful, I See Cannellas pg. 8 i |