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

I’ve just returned from walking the grandkids to school, the first time I’ve taken them in the morning and this is on my mind: We’re putting a lot of faith in a little piece of fabric or paper.

Don’t get me wrong – science tells me masks work and I learned long ago that if I’m not an authority in something, I listen to what the experts say. But kids are kids, and this morning, they were standing too close. I don’t know what it’s like in the classroom, but I was nervous about the outside situation.

Thoughts from other parents or grandparents? What’s the situation at your school? What’s the alternative to a line where kids aren’t keeping distance? Do you get them there at the last minute? We could use some tips. I had two going in different lines and couldn’t be both places.

Could a parent patrol help the teachers? Could we stagger arrival times? 8 a.m. for K-2 and 8:15 a.m. for grades 3-5? If you’re an educator, what do you think?

It wasn’t chaotic by any stretch; just too many little kids too close together. It made me uneasy, which is how I felt when I went to dinner at Pete & Sam’s Sunday night. It was great and festive, families and friends gathered at big tables eating pasta and drinking wine. All great – it really was – except for the pandemic part.

To those who think that it’s pointless to wear a mask in a restaurant only to walk to your table and remove it, I offer this scenario: When you’re in a comfortable social setting – Pete & Sam’s on Sunday night is as Memphis as it gets – you don’t stay in your seat. You’ll see friends all over the restaurant and someone will get up and go visit someone else. It happened all night and some people were in masks, some weren’t.

Fun? Sure. Safe? Rolling the dice. Please, folks. Understand that if we abuse the privilege of properly masking in restaurants, we could lose that option. And while we’ll lose some choices, the restaurants will really pay the price. They’ll get hit with restrictions that might include reduced capacity, reduced hours, or even closing their dining rooms. So come on, on behalf of the restaurateurs who have anxiously explained this possibility to me, please wear your mask any time you’re not at the table, not just when you’re coming and going.

As Shelby County Health Department Director Dr. Michelle Taylor told me last week, to get past this, businesses need to do what the Health Department asks of them. So do we. It was the first time I’d talked with her, and I like her approach. I get the idea that she wants to give us as much latitude as possible, but that in the end, it comes down to keeping us safe. 

Over at RP Tracks, owners Mary and Bernard Laws started asking for a vaccine card or proof of a negative COVID test on Monday. Mary told me she wants to make the rules to keep her business safe so that the Health Department doesn’t enforce rules that will hurt her bottom line. 

Eric Barnes, Chris Herrington and I talked about a lot of this on this week’s Sound Bites, which we moved back to Zoom for now, thwarting our planned taste test. But really, what else is everyone talking about except how we’re dealing with COVID?

Everything is not COVID and masks, though. First, I have a recipe requested by Karen Rink Merritt for Café Samovar’s beef stroganoff. I asked former CS chef Spencer McMillin, now working as a consultant in Asheville (where he and wife Kristin have wanted to move for a couple of years, so congratulations to them for living their dream). He said he was happy to share, and so am I. Please feel free to send your requests to me by email at jbiggs@dailymemphian.com. 

More good news: Fish and chips at The Majestic Grille on Fridays. Will I eat it every week? Well, I wish. I probably shouldn’t, but chef/co-owner Patrick Reilly goes through considerable trouble to get this fish here and I promise you, it’s worth the air fare (yes, it has to come by plane right now). So clean, so flaky, so light and crisp. Yum. 

The fish and chips plate is a special at Friday lunch at The Majestic Grille. (Jennifer Biggs/Daily Memphian)

Cristin Yates’ story about Board to Beers is a nice companion piece to Cheers for Beers, the series I’m writing about local breweries. Board games and beer? Sounds like my 20s; I’m in. 

Finally, Saucy Chicken has moved to East Memphis. The restaurant closed in Crosstown in May and quietly reopened on a busy stretch of Poplar Avenue the end of July. The menu is expanded too. 

The homemade chicken salad sandwich (front) at Saucy Chicken comes with a choice of side items, including hummus with fresh vegetables. Left: Sweet heat chicken sandwich and right, catfish nuggets with onion rings. (Jennifer Biggs/The Daily Memphian)

Have a wonderful week, put on those masks, keep your distance and stay safe. I care about you!

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