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

As The Daily Memphian celebrates its seventh anniversary today, I wanted to — alongside a group of longtime readers — take a minute to remember the late Jennifer Biggs, one of the site’s first staffers. 

Biggs didn’t just review restaurants — she created community. Before she died in 2023, her work was part of the rhythm of Bluff City life, inspiring groups of friends and coworkers to turn her dining recommendations into itineraries.

One of those groups, MahJ Squad 901, started meeting for weekly games years ago, pre-pandemic. But for the past two years, they’ve been making every fourth meeting a luncheon and started by checking out one of Biggs’ recommendations. 

“When Jennifer (Biggs) came up with this food thing, we were really excited about it,” said Callie English Bolyard, the group’s unofficial spokeswoman. “We just wanted to keep it going.”

Bolyard and one of her friends decided to add their own twist to the monthly lunches typically held on the third Friday of each month: Mahjong.

“We just wanted to have fun,” she said.

Biggs’ legacy recently led me to Ronnie Grisanti’s for lunch with MahJ Squad 901 and as Callie’s guest. Over shared plates of warm bread, hearty appetizers and delicate fish (the salmon was incredible!), I watched Biggs’ influence come to life. These brilliant women laughed, traded stories and passed dishes as though the food itself was part of the conversation. Many of them first met attending Biggs’ monthly luncheons.

“You just meet people, and you become friends through this game,” Bolyard said. “Little by little, we just started getting all these people together.”

A player sets up mahjong at Restaurant Iris on May 9, 2025. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

They even taught me how to play mahjong, guiding and encouraging me with patience to my first, clumsy win.

The ladies — who are mostly retired — gather for weekly gameplay. Local restaurants like Bog & Barley, SkiMo’s, Villa Castrioti, Redfish Asian Bistro and more have already opened their doors to them. And they say that they hope to discover other eateries together, just as Table Talk has introduced them to restaurants worth trying.

I left Grisanti’s with gratitude — for the meal, the laughter, the lessons and, above all, for a city that continues to prove food is the thread stitching past, present and future together at the table.

This week on the Memphis food scene

The owners of Good Fortune Co. competed on Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” and nearly brought it all home to Memphis.

Back at home, a Tops Bar-B-Q location faced its second fire this year, just weeks before it was supposed to reopen. But, this time, authorities are saying it’s not an accident.

In Food Files, Sophia Surrett lets us know which local Caribbean restaurant is spinning off a new vegan concept.

Poutine isn’t just for Canadians, eh? Erica Horton tells us where to find the Northern delicacy on a dime in the latest $15 Deal.

Holly Whitfield talks to the men behind Memphis’ most successful pubs to learn about the food, business and luck of the Irish in Sound Bites.

You may still encounter your favorite food trucks at Wiseacre’s OG location on Broad Ave., but now the brewery and taproom is selling its own “sandwiches that slap” through Panuzzo King.

Speaking of food trucks, the next time you see Smoke & Toast, be sure to order one of my favorites, the “Baller, Shot Collard” sandwich.

A popular breakfast chain with Sun Coast vibes is coming to Germantown, later this month.

The wait is (nearly) over for lovers of the Midtown location of Chick-fil-A on Union Avenue. The restaurant is reopening Thursday, Sept. 18. 

And Christian Yates gathered the best kitchen hacks and advice from Memphis chefs so you, too, can cook like a pro.

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