The food is consistently excellent, as is the service. And we never feel rushed. It’s as if they want you to stay, be comfortable and take your time.

Tiki-Tiki is one of those old, venerable Richmond institutions whose very existence many people take for granted. To many, it’s always been there and it always will. It has certainly been there as long as I can remember. It’s how many of us thought about “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson. You always knew you could turn on the TV at 11:30 p.m. and there he was. Just like the last time you checked. Surely, Johnny isn’t going anywhere.

I would encourage the Tiki-Tiki uninitiated not to make the same mistake. One, you don’t know what you’re missing and, two, although I hope they will be around for many more years to come, you never know.

Rob Watkinson

Editor’s Note: The writer lives in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.

Arts Complex Is Doomed to Fail

The proposed Performing Arts Complex is an ill-conceived plan and its inevitable failure will be very public, humiliating and expensive. Why does Richmond repeatedly enact plans for revitalization without ever realizing the obvious?

Downtown needs money in order to be revitalized and an entire issue of Style Weekly devoted to arts organizations in “lean times” proves that those organizations cannot fulfill that need [Fall Arts Preview, Cover Story, Sept. 4].

Why have we not seen a study on the feasibility of such a complex? Where are the surveys proving the need for a new performing arts center? Where are the numbers on its projected success? Can we see documentation of proven successes for similar projects in other cities? Does Richmond meet any of the same criteria that enabled those other successes? Without answers to these questions, how can arts organizations and the city expect support for such an expensive project? Richmond has a thriving arts scene of high caliber and it would be a shame to see our artists lose support because of a bad idea.

Give downtown what it really needs: a decently priced store with groceries. Turn the old Thalhimers building into a Target or a Wal-Mart. It’s not glamorous, but 6th Street Marketplace would have an anchor, finally; residents in Jackson Ward, Church Hill, Shockoe and downtown could get groceries locally; and money could go back into the city rather than the surrounding counties.

Let’s please give up this doomed idea before VCU ends up rescuing yet another part of Richmond.

Ginger Russell

Cancer-Fight Advocate Has Company

Thanks for a great job reporting on Chris Craig’s walk to honor his brother as part of the American Cancer Society’s Celebration on the Hill [News & Features, Sept. 4]. FYI, Virginia has 69 ambassadors filling the same roles as Chris Craig.

Michael Schwartzberg

American Cancer Society

Correction

In “Fiesta Latina” [Dance, Sept. 11], Michel Zajur was incorrectly quoted as saying, “if you only speak English, it’s hard to get a lawyer if you need one, or file your taxes.” The quote should have read: “if you only speak Spanish…” Style regrets the error.