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.

Guy Fieri is no stranger to Memphians as he’s featured several of our beloved restaurants such as Alcenia’s, The Farmer, Uncle Lou’s and more on his Food Network show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” He’s also hosted local chefs such as Josh Steiner and Tamra Patterson on his “Guy’s Grocery Games.”

Now he’s opening Guy Fieri’s Tunica Kitchen + Bar at the Horseshoe Casino this summer. There’s not a lot of information yet. Here’s what we know: It’s big, as it will seat 224 customers. It’ll be located on the main casino floor, and it’s the first Guy Fieri restaurant in Mississippi. In addition to sandwiches, burgers and desserts, you will also be able to get Fieri’s Trash Can Nachos at the new restaurant.

Do you know about Trash Can Nachos? I didn’t, so I turned to Ms. Google and, as usual, she came through for me.

Ideally these are made in a 110-ounce can, the size you’d see in a warehouse club or food service supply house. You stack tortilla chips, carne asada, SMC (that’s super melty cheese), black beans, shredded cheddar, lettuce, tomato, jalapeno peppers and so on. When the can (or a deep pot, if that’s what you have) is full, you invert it on a platter, garnish it with onion, jalapenos, pico de gallo and whatever dollops suit you, then you serve it.

I’d eat it.

I love nachos, and while the recipe says it serves six, it will no doubt serve however many you have at the table and still go back to the kitchen half-eaten. It’s massive, but here’s the thing: Everything is homemade. The cheese sauce is cooked, the carne asada, too, and the black beans are even soaked from dried.

With hundreds of restaurants under 17 brands, I can’t imagine that Fieri’s restaurants practice the from-scratch practices of the places featured on Triple D. But who am I to say? I’ve not eaten in one Guy Fieri’s Chop House, not one Guy Fieri’s Smoke House or a Guy Fieri’s Flavorland, even though it has more than 170 locations.

Fieri’s built an empire, you better believe, and it doesn’t matter much if you’re a fan or not: You have to respect a guy who started selling soft pretzels from a three-wheeled bike called the Awesome Pretzel Cart at age 10 to save money to study in France. And then he came back and enrolled in hospitality school, opened his own restaurants in Northern California and competed on the “Next Food Network Star,” which he won in 2006.

A rash of television shows, restaurants and even a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame followed.

And now he’s opening a place down the road a bit. I’ll let you know more about when it’s opening and the menu and so on as I get more information.

Then we can take a road trip and see how many people it takes to polish off an order of Trash Can Nachos. Who’s in?

Memphis’ newest brewery, Urban Consequence, opens Friday, May 19, at 239 S. Cooper St. For now, hours are limited to 4-10 p.m., Fridays through Sundays, because the owner and brewer, Jeff Sable, has a full-time job as a professor at Christian Brothers University.

But he’s turned the hobby he shared with his late father into a business and has a taproom that will seat about 50 people. He’ll open with a selection of beers, hard seltzers and sodas. His four year-round beers include a hefeweizen, an Irish red ale with rye, an IPA and a peanut butter chocolate milk stout. Stop by this weekend, welcome him and enjoy a beer. Read more about it here at Memphis Beer Blog.

Chris Herrington and I just wrapped up a roundup of how to go beyond barbecue at notable local barbecue joints, because we stepped away from the smoked pork and took a look at other goodies, such as the Iowa Tenderloin sandwich at Ty’s Smokehouse and the homecooking at Fat Larry’s BBQ. Take a look; we didn’t even attempt to make an exhaustive list, and one reason is because we love for you to share your comments. And you did; be sure to read those and chime in yourself if you have something to say. 

At Corky’s, sure, you can get barbecue. But don’t miss the catfish or the tamales either. (Jennifer Biggs/The Daily Memphian)

Then Chris wrote this clever column about why you should eat barbecue spaghetti but should not eat Cincinnati chili.

And you know why we’re talking about it: The 2023 Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is here. It’s back on the river, and everyone is curious about how it’s going to come together this year. Holly Whitfield and Bianca Phillips tell you what you need to know before you go in this edition of their Memphis in May guides, and Alicia Davidson took a look yesterday to see how the set-up is going.

I’ll be there, and might have others with me, and we’ll be bringing you more stories through Saturday. We’ll have a photographer there, but you can also check out the Table Talk page on Facebook for photos of this and that I spot along the way. 

David Grisanti made a lot of loyal customers happy last week when he announced that he’s purchased the building at 148 North Main St. on the Collierville Town Square and will reopen his restaurant there within a couple of months. 

Chris Herrington brought us a $10 Deal from Lakeland’s Kukuruku Chicken and he welcomes the new Filipino chicken to the Memphis chicken party.

A Kukuruku Crispy Chicken combo meal. (Chris Herrington/The Daily Memphian)

The Mad Grocer, a deli and shop along the line of New York bodega, is coming to Crosstown Concourse in the former Curb Market space. Just read this excerpt about one sandwich: “One is called The Mess, which is going to be beef tenderloin, short rib and rib eye braised down with gravy and may be reminiscent of The Debris, a popular sandwich from New Orleans’ Mother’s Restaurant.”

Can’t wait. 

That’s a wrap for this week. Have a great time if you go to the river and if you see me, please stop and say hello. I’ll see 49 of you on Friday at Sufi’s for lunch, and am looking forward to that. We’ll pick this up next week.

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