My Dearest of Friends,

It is so good to return to the board of my loins, the board that I birthed. Several Food Board regulars have beseeched me to return more frequently, to restore its exigent needs of order and decency and interest to this board which has long grown stale. Truth be told, my efforts are needed more on the OT, which suffered greatly in my absence. That board continues its transformation and turning back to what made it great, so it is possible you may see more of my posts here in the near future. I pray you will requite my presence with your eyes and love. Regardless, I am here to give you a new TulaneLSU Top 10.

One of the tools iI require n my mission of bringing truth, justice, and love to all is to keep tab of trends. Ty he Swiss theologian Karl Barth may have quiped, "It is just as important for a preacher to carry a newspaper in his hand as a Bible." With the decline of printed press, I might argue it is just as important to watch the masses in a mall on Black Friday as it is to keep a Bible in your pocket. It is in the mall at Black Friday that one learns greatly about how this generation is behaving and what their true values are.

From my vantage, the younger generation is far less materialistic than even a decade ago. If they have a functioning Iphone, there is need for little else. The Black Friday mobs of the previous two decades have vaporized. No remnants remain. Macy's, Dick's, J.C. Penny's, The Disney Store, all chaotic centers of mayhem not that long ago, now peaceful and still.

There were a a couple of stores that see enticed a few to wait in long lines. One was named Lullyman I believe. WDSU had set up shop outside the entrance to showcase its relatively long queue. Most of the anticipatory were in their late teens ane early 20s, almost all white and seemed to be appointed with expensive clothing and jewelry. I pitied them for placing their treasures and hopes in something as fleeting as cheap and trashy spandex clothing. What women wear while working out these days was enough to get them arrested for indecency half a century ago. Where's General Benjamin Butler when you need him? I realize this is off-topic, but have you ever wondered why there is no good single word for 50 years? We have century for 100 and score for twenty, but nothing for 50. I may work today on a word for this problem. I will need to find out who is in charge of judging new words. Certainly, however, a word for fifty years is needed.

The second store that created a crowd was Spero Blu Spa, I believe. There were nearly a hundred middle school girls lined up outside. The management did a spectacular job of keeping things orderly. My hats off to them. The store was diminutive and it did not appear to sell anything different from The Gap or Abercrombie and Fitch. Its popularity really underscores the truth that masses, and this goes for the intelligent as for the uninellignet, the refined and the crass, follow the masses. There doesn't have to be a good reason. A crowd will follow a crowd, for good sometimes, but usually for bad.

Just a few observations I made yesterday before sitting down to enjoy a delicious panoply of food choices at the Lakeside Shopping Center food court. Stepping into that food court opens the diner to a world of opportunities. Within feet of one another, I could transition from Jerusalem to Bejing to Brooklyn in mere seconds. What a wonderful age in which we live. Most people, perhaps even you, take this plentitude and diversity for granted. Don't. For all the bad in our world, it is life-giving and life-defining to find simple pleasures in these offerings. For the benefit of this board, I tried each restaurant, even though it meant I will not be able to eat anything else this weekend.

TulaneLSU's Top 10 Lakeside Shopping Center Food Court Restaurants

10. Cane's

How can you not love a Louisiana company that abandoned the state for greener pastures in Dallas? Perhaps the least healthy options of any of Lakeside's many offerings, Cane's can aid in furthering the state's obesity rate with its disgusting sweet tea. This is New Orleans -- keep your hick Southern sweet tea out of my parishes. It is unrefined and outright rude to serve sweet tea in Jefferson, Orleans, or St. Bernard Parishes.

9. Subway

A reliable sandwich and the Italian is always tasty, although not very healthy. I wouldn't make a trip to Lakeside just for Subway, but it isn't a terrible option if you are already there.

8. Smashburger

A far cry from the nearby Whole Food burger -- the Uptown location does it better than the Metairie location -- but if grease is your game, you could do worse than Smashburger.

7. Charley's Cheesesteaks

Authentic Philly cheesesteaks are disgusting. Who puts cheezewiz on something edible? Charley's doesn't. The bread is not as good as what you might get at Geno's, and that's my biggest complaint. It's a bland, Pepperidge Farms type probably mass produced on a national scale.

6. Fairchild's

I brought my first date to this location when it was Swensen's, so perhaps an unfair nostalgic ranking. Still, a really good cone can be had here.

5. Chick-Fil-A

Not as good as Popeyes, CFA's chicken nuggets fried are better than most chicken dishes at expensive restaurants. Lakeside's CFA is exceptionally good, better than the stand-alone on Vets.

4. Mandarin Express

It wouldn't make TulaneLSU's Top 10 Chinese restaurants, but I am a sucker for that brightly lit, MSG soaked, starch laden Mandarin Express.

3. Byblos

During my time at Tulane, I often skipped Bruff to eat the Byblos in the student center. Steak kabobs, ample at over 8oz, and two sides, I always got the Greek salad and hummus, were $7.99. Prices have gone up a little, and the Lakeside Byblos isn't as good as what I remember Tulane's to have been, but it's still delicious and can be nutritious as well.

2. Sbarro's

The old addage the early bird gets the worm applies precisely to Sbarro's Lakeside. I have recently spoken poorly of this Sbarro's, as every experience there was negative. But on this morning, about 7:30 or so, the pies were flying freshly out the oven and the pizzaiolos were on their game. I only had one slice, but this Brooklyn-made favorite, on this morning, was better than Pizza Delicious, and that isn't an exaggeration. Slices are expensive, between four and five dollars, but they have a great deal for two large pizzas for $22.

1. Great American Cookie Company

There is no better dessert in the New Orleans Metro than GACC. This staple has been here as long as I've been alive, I believe. It's going no where I hope. I bought a 16" cookie and ate it all and I still wasn't fully cookie satiated