Mr. Rety, the former owner of the La Belle Epoque restaurant in Bay Harbor Islands and the Continental Gourmet in Hollywood, left Miami several years ago and now raises horses in Englishtown, N.J.

The incident began in September 1982 when a customer at La Belle Epoque, who was not involved in the lawsuit, complained that a veal chop was too tough.

Mr. Green, who owns the Southern Commodity Corporation, a Miami manufacturer of liquid sugar for industrial use, was sitting at a nearby table when he saw his acquaintance was upset about his meal. The next day, Mr. Green sent Mr. Rety a letter about the incident, court records show.

Mr. Rety telephoned Mr. Green in response to the letter and the two men had a heated exchange. Mr. Green then wrote a letter accusing Mr. Rety of anti-Semitism and threatening to put him out of business, according to court records.

Mr. Green, a former vice president of Temple Israel of Greater Miami and an active member of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, never sent the letter to Mr. Rety. He distributed it instead to several prominent Jews in the community, including the Mayor and Vice Mayor of Bay Harbor Island and the president of a 1,000-member condominium association that has many Jewish members.