On Friday, March 18, the Southern Food and Beverage Museum will hold a fish fry from 4 to 8 p.m. As implied by the name, the menu includes a fried catfish plate with coleslaw, potato salad and hush puppies for $16. There’s also a fried shrimp platter with the same sides for $18, and strawberry shortcake for $5. There’s seating inside and outside, and the bar will be open.
The folks behind the food operate a popup called Lets Do Luncheon where you can sign up in advance. I’d definitely try that before you decide to go, because I’m told they sold out the last time they did this sort of thing. Having said that, there may be some plans in the works for a crawfish boil, so bookmark that Let’s Do Luncheon link…
The James Beard Foundation announced its semifinalist nominees some time back and on Wednesday they announced the finalists.
New Orleans restaurants/restaurateurs named include Brennan’s, for Outstanding Restaurant; Serigne Mbaye of Dakar Nola in the category of Emerging Chef; and in the category of Best Chef: South Isaac Toups of Toups’ Meatery, Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith of Saint-Germain and Melissa M. Martin of Mosquito Supper Club made the cut.
As I said when I wrote about the semifinalist nominees, I think they’re all worthy of the award. Lots of restaurants are, particularly in New Orleans. I hope our local folks clean up.
NEATsheets are a thing I learned about because I receive a lot of press releases. I ignore most of them, but this one? Oh my. I am not sure I can do anything but share it with you with some retractions for length:
This… isn’t your grandparents’ traditional bib.
NEATsheets are uniquely designed, wearable napkins that offer benefits that traditional clothes-protecting products never have. More dignified than a bib, more effective than a typical napkin, NEATsheets come with two easy-to-use, peel-and-stick adhesive tabs making them a much better solution to cloth bibs, clothing protectors and napkins. No ties or clasps are required. It’s as easy as … open, adhere, dispose. The front absorbs spills while the back repels liquids, providing protection for clothes and easy clean-up.
Spills happen. Stains shouldn’t.
The product measures 13” wide x 22″, providing full protection for the torso or lap whenever spills or messes may occur: at family dinners and barbecues, working from home, watching TV, dining out, arts & crafts projects, parties, picnics. Commuters and road trippers can be protected from that coffee splash or food drips. During airplane or train travel, it can be used as a napkin, tray table cover and even a headrest cover. In boats, it is a napkin that won’t blow away.
Neatgoods, the company behind NEATsheets, is WBENC-certified as a woman-owned, family-run enterprise, a proud partner of 1% for the Planet and is Leaping Bunny cruelty free certified.
For businesses like restaurants, NEATsheets keep patrons…well, neat. Ideal for delivery or takeout, caterers, food truck meals, food festivals or care facilities where napkins, cloth protectors and adult bibs are needed. They are also great for messy activities, as a placemat on-the-go, when applying make-up and more.
A large and growing market for the product is seniors. It appeals to the caregiver for the elderly, the disabled, and people with Parkinson’s, MS, Alzheimer’s and more. The product promotes independence because of its easy-to-use adhesive tabs.
“The concept came about when our parents drove cross country, eating a lot of tuna fish sandwiches, and arrived with an idea for a car napkin,” says NEATsheets Co-founder Heidi Worcester. “As a working mother of three the idea resonated. How many times had I arrived at a meeting with a coffee splotch or yogurt drip? Too many. And so, the product was born.”
They come in four attractive patterns, packaged in 20, 80, 100 and 400-count options, and range in price from $18 – $145.
Available at myneatgoods.com, Amazon and online at Walmart.
I do not know where to begin.
My grandparents didn’t have a “traditional” bib, unless they went to a lobster restaurant, I guess? I know there is a place for these things, but that place is almost certainly where people cannot feed themselves without spilling things. That’s not how this is being marketed and it’s sure as hell not how it’s being priced.
Co-founder Heidi Worcester said, “How many times had I arrived at a meeting with a coffee splotch or yogurt drip?” Is the solution to that problem a bib? Because I think it’s actually, “don’t spill food on yourself.” If you are at the point in your life that you need an adult bib to keep your clothes stain-free, then you may need more help than a bib can provide.
I don’t want to suggest that the existence of this product is a sign of the apocalypse, but I can’t escape the feeling that there’s some rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouching towards Bethlehem as I write this, and I bet it’s wearing a bib.
