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

The winter storm of 2026 may go down in local history with the same level of lore as the 1994 ice storm or the 2003 derecho known as “Hurricane Elvis.” 

Years from now, older Gen Alpha Memphians may gather their Gen Beta children close and regale them with tales of being iced in for days, sledding and making igloos outside. And they’ll likely talk about the cooking that sustained each of our households during this latest shutdown.

In my home, I refused to allow culinary boredom to win. My first forays into the kitchen after being snowed in were rather clumsy and lazy as I’m still settling into my new home. I made every variety of sandwich and Angus burger available to me — with and without bacon and cheese, choosing between raw and caramelized onions of every color.

Things were looking up by my third day of seclusion.

I attempted to jazz up some store-bought tortellini with chopped peppercorn bacon, red onion, sundried tomatoes and shaved Parmesan. It was just what I needed to spark some true kitchen inspiration. I spent the next two days making five-alarm chili and homemade pizzas with scratch-made dough.

Meanwhile, outside, Memphians were making “a way out of no way,” as the folks in my childhood church would say. It was time to venture outdoors and find other warm places to spend time. I found some people craved cold despite the visible proof of respiration lingering in the air with every deep breath taken outdoors.

Before most of us were even willing to let the pets outside, Aldo’s Pizza Pies fed both neighbors and the first responders working to clear the snow. Each of the restaurants in their restaurant group remained open during the storm.

“Our first priority is to ensure our employees have a regular paycheck and can provide for their families but also to service our neighbors and community we’ve built a bond with for more than 17 years,” said Eric Bourgeois, marketing director for the restaurant group that includes Aldo’s, Momma’s, Slider Inn and Bardog Tavern. “No one was required to come in, and we shuttled anyone who needed a ride to and from work.”

Aldo Dean, majority owner of the restaurants, personally drove employees to and from work during the worst days of the storm and its aftermath.

In The Heights, Cxffeeblack welcomed customers back Tuesday, Jan. 27, after the storm. While some people couldn’t wait to wrap their hands around a hot cup of cider, tea or Ethiopian coffee, one customer hilariously made Cxffeeblack’s social media reel for sipping an iced version while he took in some fresh air outside.

At Groovy Gratitude in Uptown, the sidewalks have been shoveled and salted; their doors also reopened Tuesday. The shop sells healthful snacks, salads and wraps, cold-pressed juices, and smoothies.

“You could tell people were really ready to get out of the house,” Groovy Gratitude co-owner Alicia Dixon said. “It was worth driving over in the snow and getting everything ready for them. Even Uber Eats has been busy (for us).”

John Littlefield and Bert Smythe own McEwen’s. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

McEwen’s Memphis even opened its doors to lunch customers Tuesday. The upscale yet approachable steakhouse on Monroe Avenue offered a warm place to perch and watch winter continue to unfold.

“There are so many people Downtown who are visiting Memphis and without nourishment,” said John Littlefield, McEwen’s co-owner. “Plus we wanted to make sure our staff could get back to work.”

In addition to managing dining service inside, Littlefield and business partner Bert Smythe have been clearing the restaurant’s sidewalks themselves.

Long after all this ice melts and the pipes thaw, what we’ll remember most isn’t the inconvenience — it’s who kept cooking when they didn’t have to.

This week on the Memphis food scene

Jennifer Chandler welcomed us all into her kitchen and shared her special tomato soup in the latest Recipe Exchange.

There was a time when popular French cooking techniques were all the rage. Chandler also explored the history of the “en papillote” technique and talked to local chefs about their use of it today. In a bonus Recipe Exchange, she walked us through making Chef Erling Jensen’s snapper en papillote right at home.

Jennifer Chandler wrote about how to make Chef Erling Jensen’s snapper en papillote. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

In Food Files, Sophia Surrett detailed the sale of a popular plant-based restaurant’s original location, which Whitehaven barbecue spot will reopen in the spring after upgrades and the temporary closure and menu expansion of a Downtown bakery.

Read about Jake Schorr, a local entrepreneur whose culinary legacy spans seven different decades, and the uncertain future of his Pinch District restaurant Westy’s.

I talked to Mid-South farmers to learn how winter weather affects agricultural operations in the area and how daily life changes in the snow.

Surrett also talked to Jesse James and Joe Zeeben, co-owners of the online retailer called Memphis Gift Basket, about their upcoming brick-and-mortar expansion in North Memphis and why adding groceries made business sense.

In addition, she did a story about Maru Handroll Bar, a new sushi restaurant on Poplar Avenue, and how it plans to fly in ingredients directly from Japan and what diners can expect from the two-story space.

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