THE FRONT BURNER

Didn’t anyone tell the group on the cover of Calendar that they were going to have their picture taken (“Out of the Kitchen & Into the Fire,” by Ruth Reichl, March 15)?

What a motley crew! Rather than taking the time to put sunglasses on a fish (1), why didn’t they have the hard hats removed from the food counters (2)? And tell the fellow who was resting his arm and head on the shelf (3) to get lost.

These women chefs were complaining that they had been tired of filleting “three salmon a day for 10 years” and “peeling carrots for days on end.” That is where they should have stayed.

Give me a male chef, any day. Whether it’s Wolfgang Puck, with his neat, white cloth napkin tied around his neck preparing a gourmet meal, or my husband opening a can of sardines and mixing a salad, I’ll take them over these women invading the kitchens of famous restaurants.

At least, the men show class!

PHRYNE BARRI KONAT

Van Nuys