Kelly English is the founding chef of Le Bon Appetit, a food festival held every other year to benefit Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

At least it was before COVID. The last one was in 2018, and 2020 was obviously a no-go. But it turns out that 2021 is too risky to plan a large event, so this pivot went from party to virtual cooking classes, Le Bon Appetit @Home. But it’s going to be fun and you can hear English talk more about what’s to come on Sound Bites. (And click here to sign up for classes.)

One important thing to note: The classes were supposed to begin Feb. 23 but have been pushed back a week because of the city’s boil order. They don’t want us boiling shrimp in possibly contaminated water and are playing it safe rather than being sorry.

But what we really wanted to talk about was something even dearer to Kelly’s heart: Cream cheese.

Not so fast: Restaurants don’t have to close if they can boil water, Health Department says

Not kidding. It’s pretty important to me, too, and for both of us it’s because we grew up eating Pickapeppa poured over cream cheese at every party the grown-ups had. He’s a Wheat Thins guy; I like mine with Triscuits.

Cream cheese is more than an inexpensive party food though. It’s a versatile food and definitely a conversation starter. We agree that Ecco makes a fabulous cheesecake, and while it has nothing to do with cream cheese, that the coconut cake at Palladio is killer.

There’s even a possibility that when we finally leave limbo and get to the new normal, Restaurant Iris or The Second Line will have an appetizer menu that has two sections: Cream Cheese and Not Cream Cheese.

Have a listen.