Too <i> Haute</i> to Handle

It is the year of “not getting it.” Bush doesn’t get it, and neither do the Misses Reichl and Ochoa.

Reichl says that “eating in the ‘80s was terrific fun.” For whom? For critics who almost always took the owners’ view, who almost always found fault with the diner. For critics who were friends of the owners and could find naught but praise for the likes of Michael McCarty and Wolfgang Puck.

The diner was relegated to nowhere. Although food was good, service and attitude were horrendous, and our ombudsmen, the reviewers, never, or hardly ever, seemed to notice.

Three-star Michelin in L.A., top restaurant city--nonsense! There may be one or two restaurants that rate a mention in Michelin but certainly not more than one star. None of the restaurants your critics rave about that I have been to have either service or attitude that would make them world-class. Which is really OK.

What is wrong is that the reviewers keep telling me they are world-class. I submit that price and elitism do not a Michelin restaurant make.

ARTHUR L. FINN

Beverly Hills