During the first week of January, Rob Brown was at home when he saw — via his security cameras — law enforcement agents sitting in a van outside his restaurant, Da Sammich Spot. Though the restaurant was closed, Brown didn't want law enforcement using his parking lot as a staging area, so — again, through the cameras — he asked the officers to leave. When they didn't, he headed up to the Park Avenue restaurant to see if he could convince them in person.

Before the night ended peacefully, the parking lot saw more officers and protesters amass in the area, with video of the incident going viral. Today, food writer Ellen Chamberlain talks to us about what happened and why, as well as some other recent developments on the local dining scene.

Plus:

• More than 600,000 tulips will soon bloom at The Dixon
• Bill Dunavant has been elected to the St. Louis Fed board
• A Memphis handroll sushi restaurant has opened at Popular Collection
• Noem invokes Memphis in defense of the Minneapolis shooting
• Fewer than 3,300 homes sold in Memphis suburbs in 2025