FROM FAST FOOD TO FRANCE

The overkill coverage given to responses (Letters, May 8) to S. Irene Virbila’s review of David Slay’s La Veranda restaurant (“Baffled in Beverly Hills,� March 19) is yet another gastronomic confirmation of the our overweight society’s preoccupation with food, which further feeds the folly of, and provides fodder for, the weight-loss witch doctors of America.

It seems that many people are still unaware of the hundreds of fast-food joints we are blessed with in Southern California. At such places, I am never embarrassed to ask for ketchup, and I can always enjoy a cigarette before, during and after my meal. Also, considering the savings by virtue of neither valet parking nor service tips, I, too, can one day afford to dine at La Veranda.

And lately, like dreaming of winning the lottery, there’s always the chance, thanks to overly hot drive-in coffee, of a windfall fortune via a scalded-crotch lawsuit. Bon apetit!

William M. Lawson III

Costa Mesa

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I want you to know how helpful your list of restaurants was during our recent trip to Paris (“We’ll Always Have Paris,� by S. Irene Virbila, March 12). It was pure joy watching the chefs hear your words read to them.

I heard recently that your readers did not appreciate your spending time and space on the Paris restaurants. For our part, it alone made our subscription to The Times worthwhile. We did not want you to spend another day thinking that Los Angeles people, self-centered as we are, do not appreciate your knowledge of international restaurants.

M. M. Morris

Beverly Hills