Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's

A feast for film buffs, this delicious documentary chronicles the glamorous history and bittersweet demise of the legendary Hollywood restaurant, Chasen's, one of the last bastions of a bygone Golden Age. In its heyday, every night was like a premiere and every table filled with stars, but in recent years Hollywood abandoned it for trendier eateries. Here, the restaurant's frantic and tumultuous final weeks play out against the backdrop of reminiscences of the venerable staff and loyal patrons. From the priceless archival footage of screen immortals who graced Chasen's dining room to the dish served up by such colorful characters as bartender Pepe Ruiz (creator of a drink called "the Flame of Love") and irrepressible waiter Tommy Gallagher, memories--as Dean Martin croons on the soundtrack--are made of this. Highly recommended. (K. Lee Benson)