Liked Mon Jardin

I read with great disappointment David Nelson’s restaurant review “Mon Jardin’s True Mission Seems to Be Lost in Fancy Razzle-Dazzle,” (Aug. 6). Apparently, he visited an entirely different Mon Jardin restaurant than I did.

But it is not the fact that I enjoyed the restaurant and he didn’t that inspired me to write. No, it’s the way he dedicated his entire column to a hatchet job on this new dining establishment that attracted my fingers to the typewriter keyboard.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m the first to stand up and make a case for freedom of the press. However, I believe Mr. Nelson went way beyond the call of duty--not to mention the spirit of decency--in his column’s comments. I mean, it is not as if he offered these critiques as constructive criticism.

Mon Jardin is a recently opened restaurant and as such is sure to contain its faults. I know that every restaurant owner would love to receive only top-notch reviews with no complaints. However, I also know that most owners anticipate seeing negatives in a reviewer’s column, especially when their establishment is new.

They look upon this as professional advice for how to make their place the best it can be. What restaurant owners don’t expect is something like David Nelson’s column of Aug. 6.

Though I do not get around to as many eating places as your Mr. Nelson, I’m no stay-at-home, either. I enjoyed the atmosphere at Mon Jardin, and I must say that the service I received was far and away the best I have ever enjoyed in San Diego. Perhaps ol’ Dave doesn’t appreciate being waited on hand and foot, but I certainly do. Maybe you should send him to write about places where he can get more involved in serving . . . like Furr’s Cafeteria!

My wife and I both enjoyed our dinner immensely on the Saturday evening we dined at Mon Jardin. Each of us ordered a veal dish, and, upon sampling from each other’s plate, we agreed that both were prepared very much to our satisfaction.

It’s a shame that some people will base their decision to try Mon Jardin solely on the words of David Nelson. I can only hope that they will take a moment to wonder: “Could a place actually be this bad, with no redeeming value?” Maybe then they will realize that your Mr. Nelson wasn’t writing a fair assessment of a new restaurant. Instead, he was carrying out some sort of vendetta.

If a restaurant critic has nothing good to say about a place, perhaps everyone would be better served if he simply said nothing about it.

JOHN ALEKSIC

San Diego