While so many restaurants – locally and nationally – have closed because of the COVID-19 impact, the fine-dining Bossier City restaurant is an outlier. Three new construction projects started just weeks before the pandemic – a courtyard, patio and wine cellar – are either finished or soon will be finished.

I mean, don’t you just feel, sometimes, just physically and emotionally exhausted? Like you just can’t muster up the energy or patience to face the world? Maybe it’s pandemic fatigue, or you’re working exceptionally long hours, or taking on exceedingly heavy workloads.

Maxwell’s Market, at 4861 Line Avenue in Shreveport, is selling food from these three local restaurants. It’s a gesture from market owner Ross Barclay – a way of helping friends in need, friends whose restaurant business has been significantly hurt by the closing of dining rooms.

in March, the Shreveport Regional Arts Council hosted one of the final live events to take place in Shreveport, as cities around the country were tightening restrictions on public gatherings due to the international pandemic.

And they couldn’t be happier. “That was the impetus for doing the shower, for sure,” Dana Phillips said. “That’s how it started. But also, we despised that whirlpool tub. It was kind of gross to me. I knew if we did the shower, we would probably have to redo the flooring.

He even has butter. And you can have what he has. Randy owns Morell Dairy Farm on Highway 169 between Greenwood and Mooringsport in Caddo Parish. He is selling the farm’s home-milked items and is confident all of them are better than what you buy at the grocery store.