In response to Ms. Bounds, who replied to my Viewpoints letter, I feel the need to apologize and clarify.
I never meant to come off as insensitive to the struggles that Mr. Cortez, the restaurateur who initiated this dialogue, wrote about on Feb. 2.
Upon reading Ms. Reid's response to Mr. Cortez, I was under the assumption that she was trying to be helpful to the restaurant business in general by suggesting that offering dishes for health-conscious patrons may improve business. Therefore when Mr. Hyle, on Feb. 16 stated that Ms. Reid's thoughts were "arrogant and self-centered," I felt the need to dignify that customers with dietary restrictions are still paying customers who probably do not visit restaurants as much as they would like to.
What harm would come from any restaurant having a reputation that they offer specials that cater to these diets? A simple gluten-free and/or dairy-free vegetable soup, stew or chili can't be that hard to have in stock in the kitchen's freezer. Serve it with a piece of gluten-free bread and you have a happy customer who may order a couple of glasses of wine too. How about a simple vegan salad dressing for those endless salads we end up ordering, minus the cheese that we honestly wish we could eat.
My initial letter was not meant to be "all about me." I was simply trying to share my experience as a patron with a "dietary disability!" Perhaps this particular customer base is not huge in numbers, and maybe healthy option offerings isn't the economic answer, but the suggestion was meant to be helpful and shouldn't be treated with such animosity.
Susan Francese
Lewes
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