MIXING AND MINGLING
Revolutionary Dining
Changing the World One Course at a Time

The Rake April 2007

In Marnita Schroedl and Carl Goldstein’s
Kenwood home it can be hard to decide where to
sit. The living room contains a plush couch, a large
oak dining table lined with a bench and six solid
chairs, and a low table encircled by five squat
stools. The sunroom in back has another couch,
while still more chairs are tucked into every corner.
More amazing than the abundance of seating
is that Marnita and Carl actually need the surplus
for the twenty to a hundred guests who visit their
home thirty times a year. They are the founders of
Marnita’s Table, a non-profit whose mission is to
“ignite enduring cross cultural connections,”
which they strive to accomplish by having people
over for dinner.

Marnita and Carl believe that diversity is not
about simple racial, religious, or economic
demographics, but about individuals whose differences
may not be based on appearance. One
man may seem like a dapper gad-about, yet
devote himself to philanthropy; a young woman
who looks like a college student might spend her
days working as a liaison for the Mexican consulate
in St. Paul. Marnita and Carl realize most
of us “live such segregated existences,” easily
staying within familiar networks of people similar
to us. So they create a forum, pick a theme
(as varied as “Democracy: Here and There” and
“Light Bulb: What Turns You On”), and invite an
eclectic group for dialogue.

Walking into their crowded house for a recent
dinner, it seemed like the chatty guests already
knew each other, but it was quickly apparent few
were acquainted—they were simply in the
process of introducing themselves. This rapid
meet-and-greet continued until Marnita
emerged from the kitchen to begin the meal. A
short woman with a shaved head, Marnita’s
considerable presence owes much to the exuberance
with which she speaks; she is, as her business
card says, the catalyst. Her welcome was
expansive, her hands and arms accompanying
the words with vigorous, all-encompassing
gestures.

Although Marnita’s Table officially began in
2002 in conjunction with Social Venture Partners,
a philanthropic organization working with
at-risk youth, Marnita has been hosting her
whole life. From her first Thanksgiving living on
her own in the Bay Area to dinners for her black
and white friends who survived the Los Angeles
riots in 1992, Marnita has honed her natural generosity
with a serious intent: to make a place
where everyone is welcome. Trans-racially
adopted by a family in Washington, Marnita was
the youngest of eight and the only adopted child.
Not white enough for the white kids or black
enough for the black kids, she says, the community
never accepted her. At sixteen she’d had
enough and transplanted herself to California,
where she worked in offices and took community
college classes until she could attend UCLA.
Upon graduation she began work on a PhD in
philosophy, but soon decided she was better suited
to living life than analyzing it.

During a recent meeting, Carl sat calmly at the
table while Marnita was rarely still, constantly getting
up to make tea, type at her computer, hunt
down a memento—all the while contributing to
the conversation. Carl’s deliberate, modulated
words contrast starkly with Marnita’s effervescent
speech. He does not gesture as she does, but
his eyes sparkle, surrounded by smile lines. As
the couple speaks it’s clear they occupy common
ground. They have spent their lives examining
communication, he as a journalist in Asia for
nearly fifteen years, she working for a PR firm
in California and Words on Fire, her consulting
business that provides communications,
marketing, and research services.

Each has experienced what it is to be the other, Carl in
Asia, Marnita in the Pacific Northwest. Having
lived in some of the largest, most diverse cities in
the world, today they strive to infuse Minnesota
with some of that cosmopolitan flavor. Shortly
after moving here in the late ’90s they met at an
event for their sons’ kindergarten, and over the
next couple of years, Marnita says, they realized
they “wanted to walk through the world the
same way.” They married, established Words on
Fire, and began Marnita’s Table as a way to
“live what they believe.”

“The work comes naturally,” Marnita says,
speaking for the couple; enjoying the impact
takes more practice. Guests leave the table nourished
and stimulated, with a sense of “not just
gratitude, but liberation,” she says, sifting
through the pile of thank-you notes they have
received over the years. Marnita says guests are
“charged by the mixing and mingling” and “smitten
by the connection and humanity” displayed
at each event. It’s the basic recipe, really, for any
good party: Bring interesting people together in
a warm place, give them food and drink, provide
a topic of conversation, and stir.
—Laura Puckett