I am writing to you on behalf of Diep Group Restaurants about your review of our Blackrock branch of Diep at Home that appeared in last week's magazine section of the Sunday Tribune. The article repeatedly took aim at the 'provenance' of the fresh produce that we use in our cuisine. The word 'provenance', incidentally, features prominently on the website of your beloved Alexis Pizza, which seems to be somewhat coincidental given the praise showered so effusively upon them in your review.

The tone of this ill-informed piece of journalism would suggest to more than a few that we are in some way attempting to mask or hide the 'provenance' of our ingredients. To those people who take time to peruse our printed material however, both the wall-mounted and take-home versions of the menu contain information about the origin of our fresh produce. It is freely available and is printed clearly. If there is ever a query as to the source of our ingredients, we are absolutely forthcoming in providing these details.

For any information that you felt (for whatever reason) was being withheld from you, did it not occur to you to ask one of our numerous helpful staff members who are available at the point of sale, on the phone or on email to answer any questions you might have had?

We use fresh ingredients delivered on a daily basis from local Irish suppliers, and all of our meat and vegetables are Irish with the small exception of certain items that cannot be sourced in this country and are hence flown in from Asia. We have never tried to hide this from any of our customers. It is for this reason that I would like to proffer my objection to the content of your review. In our opinion it was an unfair and poorly constructed cheap shot at a local business that has always made a point of supporting local suppliers, and that employs many Irish people.

Regarding the authenticity of our food when it comes to representing the cuisine of Southeast Asia, I am confident that the almost 700 people who ordered from our branches on Saturday night alone do not share a similar opinion.

Mark Dillon

Manager Diep at Home, Dublin