Letters to the Editor: Amber-hued memories of the Golden Truffle in Costa Mesa

I read with interest Bradley Zint’s piece about the closing of the venerable Golden Truffle, but it was not news to me. I already had heard about the matter, mainly because I go there often.

In fact, I am part of a small group that has met there every Friday at 1 p.m. since the early 1980s. I came into the group about a decade later but we still have one original member, Tom O’Keefe.

The group was started by the late Polly Ober of Lido Isle, a member of “Les Amis du Vin” (Friends of Wine), and most of the group members had some connection with the wine and food industry.

Everyone who comes to the weekly “Friday Lunch Bunch” brings a special or interesting wine to share, and chef-owner Alan Greeley would always waive the corkage fee. There’s even a plaque mounted by the door commemorating our group.

We have kept a log book of our luncheons mentioning the people, the wines and the delicious food. Greeley often had a prix-fixe for us or we could order a la carte, which is always interesting at the Golden Truffle since the menu is constantly changing. Some of the most memorable dishes have included duck tacos, alligator patties, lamb burgers and, well, if it swims, flies, runs or grows on a plant, we’ve probably had it at some time.

Back in the 1980s, Alan Greeley was really on the cutting edge of culinary arts, long before anyone else around here was, and it’s not something he has ever stopped doing.

Losing the Golden Truffle is more than just losing a restaurant, or even a local icon. For me, I am losing a major part of my life and a place where I have met so many friends and contacts who have had a tremendous impact on my life. And now our Friday Lunch Bunch finds itself lunch-less with nowhere to go, certainly nowhere that can ever come anywhere close to what we have had all these years.

Lenard Davis

Newport Beach

*

Newport-Mesa term limit proposal too open

If the district is, very cleverly, recommending changing board members every 16 years, how is that going to provide new ideas and perspectives? Eight or twelve years should be the maximum tenure!

Martie OMeara

Costa Mesa

*

Laguna should sign onto climate pact

Along with our One World One Ocean Campaign, we encourage our City Council to sign onto the Climate Mayors Network and adopt the Paris Climate Change Agreement. We would be the lead city in Orange County, joining 292 other U.S. cities including Santa Barbara, Malibu and Napa Valley. As our city leaders have already voted to comply with the four conservation programs, joining comes at no cost to us — we would, however, be showing leadership to the world.

Laguna Beach stands to lose dramatically in too many ways should climate warming and sea level rise continue unabated. For example, surf spots like Brooks Street Third Reef and Thalia Street Reef will change for the worse, becoming good only at low tide, and Main Beach will flood more often, causing us to probably lose more of our beach sand area by 2100. We should join the Climate Mayors network and think about our future.

Greg and Barbara MacGillivray

Laguna Beach

*

Money should have gone toward city debt

Re. “Commentary: Recall proponents exhibit sour grapes over election-year losses,” (June 5): Councilman Marshall “Duffy” Duffield points to a possible $300,000 of taxpayer funds being spent on the Councilman Scott Peotter recall election and that this money would be better spent paying down our massive pension and civic center debt. He goes on to suggest that recall proponents represent an “ugly side of the community.”

But local citizens may recall reading in the papers that Duffield and his colleagues spent over $400,000 in taxpayer funds during the past three years attempting to prevent a private citizen in Newport from accessing sensitive city records under the provisions of the California Public Records Act (“Newport pays $200,000 in attorney’s fees to settle documents case,” March 17). This represents $200,000-plus for the city’s private, outside counsel and $200,000 for the plaintiff.

Now, this is what I call ugliness at City Hall. And I believe most would agree that particular $400,000-plus would have gone a long way in helping to pay down the large city debt that Duffield refers to in his commentary.

Kent Moore

Corona del Mar

How to get published: Email us at dailypilot@latimes.com. All correspondence must include full name, hometown and phone number (for verification purposes). The Pilot reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity and length.