I take exception to a recent letter from a Lewes resident who wrote "Resort restaurants should up their game." It seems the writer thinks more area restaurants should "cater to health-conscious eating like those [she has] found in places like Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, Calif."
Thankfully, Lewes and Rehoboth Beach aren't anything like these cities. And, a preponderance of our community doesn't want them to be.
However, there is one exception. Like Austin and Los Angeles, we are blessed with an inordinate number of excellent restaurants, comparable to them, for an area our size.
It's arrogant and self-centered to even suggest that our restaurants should have to cater to the gluten-free and vegans. The overwhelming majority of diners here at the beach aren't in this category of restaurant goers.
Besides, at most of the finer restaurants, the chef will gladly accommodate your request for a gluten-free or vegan entree. You just have to ask. It would be devastating to restaurant owners if they were to tailor their menus to the tyranny of the health-conscious minority.
Our restaurants are doing just fine as they are. Go to any one of them on either a weeknight or weekend, and seats are at a premium. The restaurants don't suffer from a lack of customers.
They suffer from an inability to employ enough workers to service their patrons. Without a doubt, if health-conscious were to overwhelm normal on restaurant menus, they would have more than enough employees. Why? Because they'd have much fewer customers.
Most importantly, our restaurants depend on summer tourists for a significant part of their profits. Vacationers come here to eat, drink and be merry. They come here to get away from the humdrum of everyday life.
They want to let their hair down. This includes eating the food and drinking the libations that are integral to "coming to the beach." It doesn't include tasteless tacos, kale wraps and skinny margaritas.
So perhaps the writer might want to consider spending more time in Austin and Los Angeles. She could then find a multitude of the kind of restaurants that represent her norm. For the rest of us Lewes/Rehoboth restaurant goers, let's keep our norm just the way it is.
Surely Will Rogers must have said, "I never met a watercress that I liked."
Steve Hyle
Lewes
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