Madam, - Recently in a café in Urbino, Italy I bought three coffees, two pastries and a panino. The bill came to €5. This was typical of the value offered by restaurants in that country, where excellent fare is served with a natural grace and courtesy.
Despite all the pleadings of the "hospitality industry" and Mr John O'Donoghue, why am I unable to shed this conviction: whereas in Italy café owners are out to make a living, their counterparts here are out to make a killing? - Yours, etc.,
EAMON SHEPPARD, Shankill, Co Dublin.