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

Memphis is a city full of quirky personalities, and there couldn’t be a sweeter kind of quirky than Kat Gordon, the owner of Muddy’s Bake Shop. Like all of her colleagues, she’s been reinventing as she’s worked through COVID and in so many ways, this past year and before that, she’s blazed a trail.

So it was particularly nice to see her receive recognition as one of the best bakeries of 2021 in Southern Living’s annual South’s Best round-up.

Gordon has received national, even international accolades, but there was something about this one that really gave her a thrill: It was the first one to use the Broad Avenue address as her location. She opened in 2008 on Sanderlin, then opened the bakery, which wasn’t a retail location, and later bought a place in Midtown.

Now she’s down to one place — Broad Avenue — and limited hours, but she’s a glass-half-full person and she and her staff are loving the more relaxed pace and better work/life balance. I’m providing extra links about her so you can read about how she and her employees played the COVID game to learn how to be more careful in the workplace.

Is it finally time to stop being so careful? Just say no. Let’s keep on doing what we’re doing to keep our numbers low and to protect ourselves from variants that are here and, they say, growing. But the Health Department is easing up on restaurants with its latest Health Directive, effective March 20. You can sit at a table of eight people, stay out a little later, leave your mask off as long as you’re seated and relax in a few other ways. This is good news, but don’t think it means we’re wide open just yet.

Remember: We don’t want to take one step forward to take two back, so don’t push the rules. Get out and enjoy, but stay safe.

Last week Chris Herrington, Peggy Burch and I ate out a lot for Memphis Black Restaurant Week and we told you about a place a day. Some of them were in last week’s newsletter, but this week we add a few more: Curry N Jerk, where owner Arturo Azcarate had to drive all over the place to find enough oxtails (please accept my sincere thanks).

Peggy went to Mahogany and raved about the greens and the fried chicken, Chris is all about the peppered goat curry at Bala’s Bistro, and I wrapped up the week with A&R Bar-B-Q and a few words from organizer Cynthia Daniels.

I’m not done, though. There were a few places that were so crowded last week that I’m going to get there this week or next; I’ll tell you about it when I do.

I paid my second visit to Dory, this time for the four-course Monday dinner, with the birthday group that gathered pre-COVID. It was a celebration of a year of missed events and listen up, you should try the mixed vegetable hash with bacon, preserved lemon and fresh-made farmer’s cheese. Since the menu is always changing, I don’t know that you can, but that was the standout of the meal.

You can find photos on Table Talk on Facebook. Take note: The bar at Dory is now open, though the bar menu is still a couple of weeks away. And while you’re at Table Talk, noodle around and be sure to offer recommendations, if you have them, for folks taking trips to Hot Springs and to Franklin. And look at the photos of pie for National Pi Day, plus a few pretty fabulous salmon and steak dinners. We’re all eating well.

Finally, Michael Waddell tells us about the Taste Around Arlington, which is different from most tastes of the town as it started March 15 and goes through April 29. Have a look at some places you can visit.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all. Before you receive the next newsletter, spring will be here and I hope that makes you as happy as it makes me. It’s almost as good as getting back to Daylight Saving Time. Put all this together and it’s hard to believe that things aren’t on the upswing!