Lamberts is a restaurant. It is famous for its “throwed rolls. "There was a line of people waiting to get in, and it was only 10:30 a.m. Once inside, we were eagerly and enthusiastically greeted by the staff, seated and then promptly offered some fried okra. Within a few minutes a guy came barreling past each row of booths with a cart full of fresh baked rolls. It quickly became apparent that all we needed to do was raise our hands in the air, and rolls would be thrown in our direction. It was fun to try and catch them and watch others do the same. It was fun to see who was going to appear at our table next with what delicious offering (after the okra came fried potatoes and onions, macaroni and tomatoes, black eyed peas, etc.) It was fun to witness the insanely huge orders of fried chicken, candied yams, meatloaf and mashed potatoes with gravy being delivered to the hundreds of diners around us.
It was fun. But it became more and more disturbing to me as I watched the scene unfold – endless refills on ridiculously large platters and skillets, predominantly overweight customers mindlessly stuffing themselves with outrageously unhealthy fare and those rolls being thrown (if you didn’t catch it, no worries… let it fall on the floor, another one is on its way.)
There was a real emptiness in it all for me, which is ironic considering the fact that at Lamberts the goal is surely to get filled up.
I won’t go on about our supersized nation, waste and the fact that one of these entrees could have easily fed ten children at St. Mary Kevin’s. I think you already get the picture.
And speaking of pictures, I took a lot of them. I tried to get the perfect shot of the guy throwing rolls, you know, roll in midair kind of thing, and I couldn’t resist photographing the mounds of food and the kitschy décor.
But this is the picture that finally got to the heart of the sadness I eventually felt at Lamberts.
What are we thinking?
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