Past Repasts

Ruth Reichl and Laurie Ochoa’s suggestion that before 1978 Los Angeles was a gastronomic wasteland is surely born out of inexperience rather than fact (“Remembering the Revolution,” Jan. 1).

For many a moon, Los Angeles, plus the surrounding area, was a mecca for restaurant-going tourists from San Francisco and New York. Indeed, the region was well served by the likes of:

Perino’s, La Rue, Windsor, Scandia, Trader Vic’s, L’Escoffier, Dales, La Scala, Tail O’ the Cock, House of Murphy, Fox and Hounds, General Lee’s, Stuft Shirt, Pierre’s, Chasen’s, Luau, Saloon, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the Wild Goose, Romanoff’s, the Bistro, Victor Hugo, Villa Nova, Don the Beachcomber, the Chatham, Jack’s at the Beach, Windsor West, Ernest’s, Karam’s, Ambrosia, Brown Derby, Chianti, Eve’s, the Tower, Villa Fontana, Sycamore Inn, Golden Goose, Las Luz Del Dia, Lyman’s, Pacific Dining Car, Inagiko, Le Restaurant, Cafe Roma, Alouette, Hung Far Chin, the Duck Press, the Mission Inn, Bit of Sweden, Swiss Cafe, Bull and Bear, Ma Maison and Paul’s. Not to mention such specialty houses as Stear’s for Steaks and Lawry’s for Prime Rib and the original Dave Chasen’s stand for the finest chili this side of Texas.

Fine restaurants that titillated palates beyond our borders, creating their own culinary splash without ear-splitting noise!

NATHAN L. CHROMAN

Beverly Hills