Welcome back to Table Talk, The Daily Memphian’s weekly food and dining newsletter, especially for subscribers. 

Do the spaces in which we dine shape the ways we eat? 

A large table can beg for elegant tablescapes, formal place settings and delicate glassware. But, it can also be covered in paper plates, cups and napkins without missing a beat.

A standard-issue folding tray can support a slightly freezer-burned and subsequently microwaved meal just as easily as it can hold the single Flora Danica plate you scored at an estate sale and the best piece of fish at the market that day. 

I have a houseguest staying for an extended visit, and it’s prompted me to reflect on the ways restaurants serve us and the ways we serve ourselves. In our own homes, some of us eat at large tables in formal dining rooms while others dine at smaller tables in open spaces. Some of us observe the world from the windows of breakfast nooks and bars, and some lucky Memphians bathe themselves in sun — or moon — light as they dine on porches and in sunrooms (or “the lanai,” if you’re a “Golden Girls” aficionado). 

There are those of you (nay, us) who might even opt to eat from the comfort of the bed or balance plates on hands and laps if the aforementioned folding tray is unavailable.

Believe it or not, I am a plate-balancer. 

But the informality of my dining setup doesn’t change the range of cuisine coming from my kitchen. Everything from Thai to Southern American to Italian and West African food graces my simple plates. And, occasionally, I do more than unboxing and even cook it for myself. Yes, I’m that good.

With my houseguest in town, however, it seems uncouth to ask her to climb onto one of my sky-high barstools and sit at the bar top or to become a plate balancer herself.

So, who knows? I just may upgrade to an actual table — a small one — before this visit is over.

This week on the Memphis food scene

Zio Matto Gelato is located at 545 S. Main St. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file) 

In Sound Bites, Holly Whitfield explores the realms of real Italian gelato in a deliciously smooth conversation with Matteo Servente, owner of Zio Matto Gelato.

Check out all the places that are feeding North Mississippi’s kids for free this summer with Brandon LaGrone II’s story about the region’s meal programs while Chalkbeat’s Melissa Brown and Thomas Wilburn have Shelby County’s kids’ programs covered.

If you love a meal on a budget, Erica Horton’s $15 deal this week highlights Cuban flavors from an unexpected Downtown gem.

For snacking or munching, try Sakura’s gyoza. (Ellen Chamberlain/The Daily Memphian)

Two area nightspots — one Downtown and another in Cooper-Young — announced they’d be closing. 

Barbara Neely, the quiet force behind Interstate Bar-B-Q, passed away last week, leaving behind an indelible legacy.

And in Food Files, Sophia Surrett gives us a look at the next location of a Memphis boardgame bar and Sakura Japanese Restaurant & Subarashi’s latest location in Lakeland. I also hit the latter for this week’s What to Order. Spoiler alert: bring your appetite because these folks don’t do small portions.

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