Story time: ......I need your help to tell this story, tell me what you think:
It was about 35 years ago that a PhD (Dr. Max Drake) at Southeast Missouri State University told his class that a group of professors from the college had recently taken a group of foreign students out to eat at a local cafe that had a reputation throughout the Midwest Lambert's Cafe - Home of thrown rolls.
Lambert's Cafe is quite the place, years ago it was a small family owned cafe in downtown Sikeston, Missouri. The food was great, so good that locals crowded in every day at lunch packing the building to the point that it was nearly impossible to walk between the tables.
One of the most popular items were homemade bread, (rolls) that was a "pass around," meaning the were constantly baking rolls. Often customers would eat so many rolls before their food arrived at the table they were too stuff to eat when it arrived. The cafe was small, and when it was packed the owner struggled to pass the rolls out...then one day a customer yelled across the room, ".....just throw me a roll!" That is how things continued.....
Then by chance a local CBS cameraman (Ron Wilson) had lunch at the cafe, saw the rolls flying around the room and instantly realized it would make a great story. He grabbed his camera and shot the scene, rolls thrown like baseballs around the place. The news story ran on the local CBS station, then again on a St. Louis station and then finally on a CBS primetime show, "Real People."
Almost overnight Lambert's Cafe was world famous with tourist from around the globe eating at there.... Over the next few decades the tiny cafe would outgrow several locations and buildings. Eventually serving the famous thrown rolls in two Missouri locations (Sikeston and Branson) plus a place in Alabama. I can proudly say my family has visited all three of the locations.....
Back in 1991 Dr. Drake reported the foreign students were appalled by Lambert's Cafe. I should have mentioned that in addition to thrown rolls the place is famous for other pass arounds like fried okra, sorghum, blackeye peas and macaroni cooked in a tomato sauce...... The helps were huge and everything came with unlimited free refills (Even the steaks...)
The foreign student were said to express the thought that Lambert's Cafe was revolting, especially the wasted food and how horrible it was considering millions of people around the world were starving to death at the time (any time...)
Like the other college students I accepted Dr. Drakes' story as the truth (and maybe it was?) But now I wonder........
Why do I wonder? Because the World Cup is in the United States right now, and countless news stories are telling about foreigners expressing their love for American food. One thing often mentioned is the portion sizes and the free refills on some items.....
My question for you is this.... Do you think Dr. Drake (flaming liberal) was telling the truth? Do you think the news stories today are accurate, do foreign soccer (football) fans love our food, especially the portion sizes and free refills? So, has the world view of how we treat food changed...... Was Dr. Drake trying to influence what we thought....... Or is there some other reason for the views expressed?
By all means, please tell me what you think, and have you eaten at a Lambert's Cafe......
