- It's time to share something sweet
and satisfying from the world of social media.
This is What I'm Liking.
(upbeat music)
With many restaurants struggling these days.
We're all trying to find ways to help.
One woman found a very cute way.
She's created a mini eatery that caters to this little guy
a chipmunk named Thelonious Monk.
He snacks on teeny versions
of some of the best dishes served in Atlanta.
His fine dining menu includes everything
from many almond meatballs to tiny wonton walnuts.
I can't with this footage.
And this restaurant
isn't just keeping this cute critter well-fed,
It's also boosting business for nearby restaurants.
Let's get the owner on the line.
What's up, Angela?
( crowd cheers and claps)
- Hi
- Hello.
Oh my gosh.
I'm gonna be real with you.
That video footage makes me so happy, deep, deep
deep inside.
Angela so what inspired this chipmunk restaurant?
- So what inspired it was
one day my, my uncle in Ohio was
his business was shut down.
He made this tiny picnic table and mailed it to me.
And
I,
I picked up the box and I put the table on the porch.
I took the box away to recycle it.
When I came back
there was this little chipmunk sitting there, like
like a little diner.
And so I fed him some nuts the next day I fed him some nuts
and he's just been coming back every day since.
And being a food writer,
I was kind of missing my beat, missing what I
what I love to eat and what I love to write about.
So I started making him little meals
from the things I missed.
I made him sushi and I created a bar
and made him ramen and all out of nuts
and he just kept coming back.
- You are so awesome.
That is so funny that you were like
you know what I'm going to do today ( light laughter).
I'm gonna make a four course meal for a chipmunk.
I, this is my favorite What I'm Liking ( light laughter ).
So, so how does
how does Thelonious, am I saying it right?
Thelonious, right?
- Thelonious. I named him after the jazz musician.
- Okay. Okay.
I just wanna make sure I'm saying right.
So well, how does Thelonious help the restaurants
you love so much?
- So I guess I started taking pictures
of the meals I was making and putting them on Instagram.
And, and every once in a while I would go
pick up food from a restaurant and there would be
a little container that had his name on it.
So I started putting that
in my pictures and started making little scenes
of the restaurants that I love and that I go to.
And
he just had a following.
People started following and asking for things.
And every time I thought that it had kind of run its course,
somebody would message me
from a hospital bed with COVID saying, you know
it you've brought a joy to my life
or I look forward to this every day
or I've had a lot of anxiety and this has helped me.
So I just, I just kept doing it.
But it, it helped my anxiety with
with all of this, this whole pandemic year.
- Yeah, I know, agreed.
Well, thank you so much, Angela.
And thank Thelonious Monk for me
because he made me so happy.
Deep, deep down.
- Thank you.
- Yes. I'm well, I'm liking your post right now
and that's not all we've actually,
we partnered up with Pilot FriXion Erasable Pen
the go-to pen of The Kelly Clarkson Show
and they wanna highlight great people doing great things.
And so they're just gonna give you a thousand dollars.
How about that?
( crowd claps)
( light laughter )
- [Angela] ( mumbles )Thank you so much
- That is so much food for Thelonious Monk.
I'm just saying ( light laughter ).
- I actually use Pilot pens.
- That's awesome.
Well, that all worked out.
Well, see, there you go.
The universe, the universe finds us.