I enjoy your publication and look forward to it each week. I rarely respond to any of the published material I receive, but the review of Carmel’s by Hanna Rachel Raskin [“The Straight Dish,” Feb. 7] demanded a response.
I seriously question her ability as a restaurant reporter or food critic. I fail to see what a Florida dance hall has to do with the service, ambiance or quality of food at a particular food [venue] here in Asheville. However, if Carmel’s does become a dance hall, maybe Ms. Raskin would be able to find a job more suitable for herself there than in her present livelihood.
I have taken several associates and more than a few friends to both lunch and dinner at Carmel’s and have found the staff to be very accommodating, the food to be inventive and to all of our liking, and other than a rare timing slip-up, [we’ve had] no problems whatsoever.
If Ms. Raskin did not lack so much in her writing ability, it wouldn’t have been such a laborious job to read through such nonessential verbiage. Comparing the look of the menu to a handbag? Give us a break.
Perhaps more schooling or a different profession would be best suited for Ms. Raskin. At least it would give us, your reading public, a break.
