Cajun Foodies

Please spare me places like the Ritz Cafe. Don’t ever show me one more blackened Cajun fish or fowl! And I have had it with designer pasta!

As a recent transplant from Chicago, I have one question that has two parts:

Where in the Name of the Almighty can one find good Italian crusty bread in this town? If I see one more soft, mushy ersatz loaf of what is passed off as Italian or French bread . . . I’ll scream for mercy!

Have mercy on my poor Italian palate that craves a nice crusty loaf of bread! Why all this mushy stuff?

And finally: What happened to good Italian pastries? The cannoli out here is wretched! Did all these Italians forget the recipes back East when they set out for the West Coast?

STEVEN M. GIOVANGELO

La Crescenta