Welcome back to Table Talk, where The Daily Memphian’s food and dining editor Jennifer Biggs sends the latest food news (along with a dash of this and that) to your inbox every Wednesday.

In last week’s Table Talk I said that with my daughter and her family moving to Memphis, I was going to miss my visits to H-E-B in Austin. It hit a nerve. Before I even knew the newsletter was on the website, I received this text from a friend:

H-E-B and Central Market are game changers. I once emailed H-E-B and begged them to come to Memphis and they were like nah …

Later, the emails started:

An H.E.B. with gasoline sales in Harlingen, Texas. (AP file photo) 

From E.B., a former Memphian who moved to Houston, then was transferred to Nashville (though now is back in Dallas, where an H-E-B is coming). He’s a big fan and told me that when they lived in Nashville, they’d travel with an extra suitcase just to stock up at H-E-B:

Publix is pretty sterile, while walking into HEB seems to get your blood pumping and makes you want to stand up and shout “Hallelujah!” like someone overcome with the spirit at a Saturday tent revival. (Have you tried the butter tortillas when they are warm and fresh in the tortilleria? Manna, I tell you. Manna.)

You ever feel like that in Kroger? Me, either.

E.K. wrote to tell me how much she misses H-E-B and how she’s had to shop at multiple stores to get what she needs, and that resonated with me. How many places do you shop? I go to Superlo, my main grocery; Kroger, usually on Truse Parkway but sometimes Sanderlin Avenue because Truse doesn’t carry a few of the products I want (and Sanderlin didn’t even have lemons or watermelon Saturday afternoon); Whole Foods; and Trader Joe’s.

That doesn’t include occasional stops at The Fresh Market, Humphrey’s Prime Cut Shoppe, High Point Grocery, Cordova Farmers Market, Viet Hoa, local farmers markets and so on. And it’s not going to get any better with more family in town. I would love to be able to rely on one grocery store and supplement with specialty stores.

We might not get an H-E-B, but another Texas business opens in town this week. Torchy’s Tacos is finally here and on this week’s Sound Bites, managing partner Matthew Miller and I talk about how it came to Memphis. And this is a guy who is excited about his new restaurant! 

Torchy's Memphis location opens officially tomorrow. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

So we have Torchy’s opening Thursday and there will most likely be another one in the area. We have two Whataburgers coming, and there will almost certainly be more than two. What else do you want? H-E-B remains at the top of my list, despite knowing I can’t have it. But what about an In-N-Out? El Pollo Loco? A great grocery from somewhere else in the country? Make your wish list and share it.

And for a $10 Deal that won’t be for everyone but I made a point of including some extra tips, I wrote about the fried chicken livers at Sweet Pea’s Southern Cooking in Bartlett. If you don’t like liver, I get it. If you do, you need to give these a try. 

Wiseacre Downtown had a big party — a grand opening, a first anniversary, a ribbon cutting and an ice cream social all rolled up in one — last week when relaxed COVID restrictions finally meant the Bartosch brothers could celebrate their huge Downtown brewery. Take note that on June 25, Hi Records artist and songwriter Don Bryant (also Ann Peebles’ husband) will perform a free concert there at 7 p.m. 

Tsunami’s Roasted Sea Bass on Black Thai Rice with Soy Beurre Blanc (Daily Memphian file)

As promised, our recipe exchange begins. Debbi Freeburg asked for the recipe for Tsunami’s sea bass. It just so happens that I bought Chilean sea bass from Whole Foods (special trip for a Prime special) this weekend for the sole purpose of making this dish. 

I consistently purge my house, and books are always something to go. Now and then I lose something I meant to keep, and “The Tsunami Restaurant Cookbook” by Tsunami chef/owner Ben Smith is something I lost some years ago. My friend Molly Polatty loaned me hers, and I have eight fillets of Chilean sea bass, trimmed by me from one of the fat center pieces, in my freezer awaiting this special treatment and no plans to prepare them any other way. Click here for the recipe for Roasted Sea Bass on Black Thai Rice with Soy Beurre Blanc from the book. 

I don’t know if the recipe exchange will continue here or if we’ll find a new home for it, but I have numerous requests, am starting with this one and will keep taking them, so email me at jbiggs@dailymemphian.com.

Have a great week, folks.

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