The Readers’ Turn

You have very strong opinions about the Los Angeles restaurant scene. We got a flood of letters in response to our chef’s round table discussion (“The State of the Plate,” Feb. 16). Obviously there were a lot of hot buttons that got pushed. Though service was the dominant issue, we received comments on everything from restaurant corkage fees to no-smoking policies. What follows is an edited selection of some of the letters we received.

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The opinions expressed by the chefs are a prime example of what is wrong with L.A. food. If you walk in much of New York, San Francisco or Chicago, you can go in to a place and usually get something good to eat. I’m not talking about expensive restaurants. Price is irrelevant when one cares about good food, and the L.A. chefs seem to have forgotten that.

Diners must be cultivated; the young must have access to good food at low prices. San Francisco is where I learned the pleasures of food, and if you ask any person on the street a good place to eat, they will give you three in walking distance that won’t cost your day’s salary.

Service in L.A. is abominable. Period. I have had bad, uninformed, disinterested service in all of the chefs’ places, and if you complain, nine times out of 10 in L.A. you get nothing more than a courtesy apology. Let the bus boys who have been in the place for years take over. They know the food and love it. Get rid of the actors and actresses who don’t eat more than salads from Erewhon and don’t stay more than a year.

Finally, great chefs that I have met in other cities are not expecting to live like movie celebs. Our chefs seem to be complaining that they aren’t making enough on a table. I say what’s on your table is not worth any more.

MONTY LAWTON

Via e-mail

“It’s the service, stupid.” Try getting a decent table from a Spandex-clad starlet who thinks osso buco is a rock star or waiters who know more about the ingredients in their hair products than the food they serve. Now if I want fava beans served with attitude, I go to my local farmers market, where a friendly merchant hands me a bag of fresh ingredients. A little wine, a lota Ella (oops now you know I’m not 22 years old) and an hour later I’m enjoying a great meal with my favorite foodie. Just one problem, our table’s a little close to the kitchen.

JANN JASKOL

Via e-mail

We are immensely grateful that there are now many very good local restaurants, so it is no longer necessary to make a reservation a month in advance and drive 25 miles to enjoy a fine meal. Angelenos have your Round Table group of stellar chefs to thank for this spread of high standards, and we appreciate it.

Several times a year, we still like to go to an outstanding restaurant to experience the talents of an extraordinary chef. We’re even willing to plan a month in advance and pay ridiculous valet parking fees. But we find that unless we are “beautiful” people, or those with recognizable names, we are treated like nobodies and are made to feel unwelcome (and we do not arrive wearing T-shirts and jeans!). We have been to many of the round table chefs’ restaurants and, with a few noteworthy exceptions, we find this to be universal. We maintain that the patronage of “regular” people is necessary to the long-term success of high-end restaurants and that the chef-owners should be certain their managers and hosts understand and appreciate this.

FRANCINE AND ROBERT MOSKOWITZ

Woodland Hills

Though I consider cost and quality of prepared food important, I’m much more particular about dining in a comfortable and pleasant atmosphere. If families with loud, screaming, crying or banging-on-things children are present or encouraged, I will avoid such a place. More important than all else is friendly, attentive service. I’d rather eat an unremarkable meal in a forgettable setting served by someone pleasant than have the experience of a delicious meal ruined by a rude, unpleasant or rushed server.

KHRIS TOVAR

Via e-mail

What a laugh. Your question about a 60-seat restaurant with “perfect food and perfect service and charging $105 to $115 a person” was the clincher. Do you have any idea how many sleepless nights this is going to cause the eating public of Los Angeles? Is there one-tenth of 1% of your readers who even care? As to the comments by Mr. Selvaggio regarding patrons bringing their own wine, I say, “Get real.” Why should a diner be forced to pay up to 150% added to the price of a bottle of wine? This has to rank as the ultimate price gouge to the restaurant patron. Thanks for the story. It provided a good laugh--while I was dining at home.

RON JOHNSON

Via e-mail

What a bunch of whiners! Serving their precious little plates of piled-up food isn’t as profitable as it used to be. They don’t pay their help a living wage and then blame them for leaving. Blaming the customer who doesn’t have the “sophistication” to wear nice clothes or patronizing the customer who hasn’t acquired a taste for animal entrails is laughable. Comparing the tastes of Los Angeles and New York is a good idea. We are fortunate to be able to spend our discretionary time and income on more enjoyable activities than those poor New Yorkers, who suffer from extreme temperatures and take themselves so seriously that they have to impress the chefs with their wardrobes to get some attention.

TOM AND FAITH BARNIDGE

Via e-mail

As a former Los Angeles restaurateur, I asked myself whether I would open another restaurant today, as I did in 1955. The answer is decidedly no. In the 1950s, investors in the restaurant business were a rare breed; one had to invest one’s own hard-earned dollars.

Good chefs were as hard to find as fresh truffles. Food and labor costs were about the same as today, but in other respects, things were easier. Then there was less competition and, as Piero Selvaggio stated, customers were less knowledgeable and less traveled.

One positive review in the Sunday Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times by a restaurant writer such as Joan Winchell, Art Ryon or Lois Dwan put a restaurant on the map. But most important, there were no constantly changing restaurant fads. Once they discovered you, customers were faithful.

WILLIAM FREMONT

(Former owner of the Matador Restaurant)

Via e-mail

If [Piero] Selvaggio wonders why some people bring their own wine to restaurants, he’d best check the prices on the wine lists. Wine drinkers know what wines retail for. Most will cheerfully tolerate markups of two or three to one. Above that there’s buyer resistance. Wine drinkers don’t like to feel like fools by grossly overpaying for any wine. Paying corkage and bringing your own wine makes great sense, and no expensive disappointments.

JOHN T. BRADY

Malibu