A Profitable Review

Three cheers to Michelle Hunven (“Rough Sailing at Regatta on Ocean,” Calendar, Nov. 8) for her comments about trendy, profiteering restaurants in Los Angeles. I must also commend your trendy, profiteering paper for printing those comments.

Those of us who have given any thought to the relationship between what goes out of one’s pocket for what goes into one’s stomach know very well that Anna Maria’s is just a few blocks from Regatta. I can also hear Mama Rosa’s belly laughs resounding through her trattoria in Brindisi when I tell her what the wonderful bowl of pasta I’m eating would cost in Santa Monica. She doesn’t know anything about trends, and she and her family eat their profits.

I gave up vanity dining a long time ago. Will The Times continue to publish realistic commentary like Huneven’s, or pander to the excesses of those with too much extra money?

CHUCK FADEL

Long Beach