Little Sheridan, WY struck a major blow at the capital of France this week, when the city council approved two sidewalk tables for the Rib & Chop House. Despite the objection raised by one longstanding member of the council, that allowing two tables might very well open the “pandora’s box” of outdoor dining, the mayor stood his ground. Any Sheridan residents who want to join in the patriotic effort to enjoy their meals out-of-doors can (not really) expect a significant tax break on jumbo sized servings of freedom fries.

After all, we may want to eat where the Parisians do, but we certainly don’t want to make do with those lousy stick-figure portions.

I dream of a world in which more local restaurants open their doors…and drag their tables through them…and weight them down… and maybe even fork out for seat cushions. In fact, the scope of my dream is so broad that it includes Sheridan serving food I want to eat, because it tastes yummy, not just because I’m starving and live 25 miles from my own kitchen.

It will be a long time before anyone sells fresh croissants in the wild west, let alone learns how to pronounce them. But it’s nice to know that France got taken down a notch this week. Wyoming, too, can linger over sparkling water and regional entrees (translation: dead cows smothered in bbq sauce).

Take that, Sarkozy!