Secret Spoon Society

10/09/2026

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Happy Friday. 🥄

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10/08/2026

To quote Grant Strickland Sunday night, “Happiness looks good on you.”

That stuck with me.

Looking back through these photographs, apparently happiness was the dress code.

Y’all clean up nice.

I've spent a lot of time trying to put into words what the Secret Spoon Society is really about. And I think these pictures explain it better than I ever could.

You can't manufacture genuine laughter. You can't force a connection. And you certainly can't plan the moments that end up meaning the most.

Those things happen because of the people in the room.

The food and drink are just the excuse.

10/07/2026

Behind the scenes of the behind the scenes.

Kane Bassham texted me at 5:40 this morning absolutely fired up about some of the images he captured Sunday night.

And I think one of my favorite parts of watching this weird little thing grow has been watching other creative people start to care about it too. Bringing their own perspective, their own ideas, and seeing things in these rooms that I don’t always get to see while I’m in the middle of it.

I can dream up the weird little ideas and make the food. Someone else makes the music. A room full of people brings the energy. And somewhere in all of that, somebody like Kane is paying attention to the little moments happening around the edges.

They say it takes a village.

Turns out it does. Ours is just an extremely specific one.

10/06/2026

A room is just a room until something happens inside of it.

A table gets set.
Someone pulls up a chair.

And suddenly, it means something.

It’s not about filling a room.
It’s about giving it a reason to be full.

10/05/2026

I had a feeling last night was going to feel a little different.

Boy, did it.

At some point it stopped feeling like an event I was hosting and started feeling more like having a bunch of friends over for dinner and sharing something I really love with them.

And then there's Shaun Munday.

There were a couple moments where all I could think was, “Brotha... your Berklee education is showing.”

He'd move through Motown and soul, find a melody somewhere completely unexpected, make the whole room laugh, and somehow make all of it belong together.

To label as talented, feels understated.

At one point, I was plating shrimp cocktail and from the other room I hear:

“Dun-dun.”

I looked around the corner. Heads tilted sideways all over the room.

Are we really doing the Law & Order SVU theme right now?

Yep.

It was that kind of night.

I can plan the menu. Set the tables. Pour the w**e. Book the music. But whatever happens once everybody settles into the room together, that's the part you can't manufacture.

Brance Bess, Ivey Mendoza, and Plusgrand Media, thank you for caring about the details and making a whole lot of work look effortless. 🫶

And to everyone who came, you gave me your Sunday. You climbed those stairs, pulled up a chair, and for a few hours we made something that could only have existed in that room, with those people, on that night.

Thank you.

10/03/2026

Dear Diary…

I wonder if anyone else has the same psychological reaction to Harvest Moon being closed on Saturday mornings that they do to Chick-fil-A being closed on Sundays.

Asking for a friend.

10/02/2026

The tables are set.

Almost.

Four seats between us and SOLD OUT.

Who wants them?

Tapas & Tunes with Shaun Munday
Sunday night at the Candy Loft.

OzarksTix.com

10/01/2026

Well, I guess the secret’s out.

Secret Spoon Society has always started with a pretty simple question: What if?

It’s a little surreal seeing this strange idea of mine reflected back through someone else’s eyes.

When Catherine Frederick reached out about telling the story of Secret Spoon Society, I was grateful that she saw something here worth telling. That she saw some value in this little corner of hospitality I’ve been carving out.

I’ve spent a lot of years in hospitality, mostly working within someone else’s walls. Secret Spoon has given me the chance to follow my own curiosity. To create, experiment, get it wrong sometimes, change my mind, and put people in a room together just to see what happens.

And somehow, people keep showing up.

None of this happened alone. There are people behind this who believed in it before there was much evidence that they should. Who have listened to an unreasonable number of ideas, pushed me creatively, rolled up their sleeves, and reminded me to keep going.

You know who you are. Thank you. Really. 🫶

Thank you to Catherine for seeing a story here worth telling, to Dwain for listening to me ramble about hospitality and all these weird little ideas and turning it into something that feels true to what I’m trying to build, and to everyone at Do South Magazine for giving that story a home.

Give it a read. Grab a copy of the October issue while you’re out.

And if you’ve got some strange idea of your own rattling around in your head, ask what if?

Give it a little room.

You never know who might show up.

Curiosity is key. 🥄

Welcome to the October 2026 issue of Do South Magazine! Do South Magazine - rooted in community and inspired by connection, we celebrate the people, places, and stories that make Arkansas shine. Insid