Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's

I have to agree that it´s a fantastic documentary. I was very surprised to watch it on German TV, because I just stayed at Raymond Bilbool´s place in Hollywood for the second time. If you want to know him better (and you should, because he is even more entertaining, when you meet him an his friends personally), you should definetely consider to visit his Bed&Breakfast Inn in the Hollywood Hills.

This documentary is a great fun for pop culture buffs, or anyone who loves old Hollywood. Chasen's restaurant has been a Los Angeles institution for decades, and the filmmakers interview many of the waiters, cooks, bartender, etc. who've worked there over the years, along with interviews with numerous celebrities. Most memorable is a bitchy queen, Raymond Bilbool, who ran the wait staff for many years and has lots to dish about. Someone could write a sitcom based on this character.

Overall, it's a very solid documentary that packs plenty of entertainment into its short running time.

Chasen's restaurant was the place to be when Hollywood was in its golden years, and this documentary covers its last days and says goodbye to an era. Famous for its chili, which Elizabeth Taylor had shipped to Rome during the filming of Cleopatra, their hobo steak, and a special drink called The Flame of Love, Chasen's has a permanent place in Hollywood history. Opened in 1936, it played host to every star in the galaxy. It was the place where the "Shirley Temple" was invented - for Shirley - and where the ladies room attendant inspired Donna Summer to write "She Works Hard for the Money." Unfortunately, times change. Lettuce is in; steak is out. Spago's is in; Chasen's is out. The stars stopped coming, the restaurant lost money, and its new boss, a businessman rather than Dave Chasen and his wife, decided to close.

The people who work at Chasen's, it turns out, are as colorful as some of Hollywood's greats. There's Raymond who scoffs at a negative book written by an ex-employee: "He's doing his own thing now. He has a wife with a mustache (pause pause pause)...well, she does"; Tommy Gallagher, who had his picture taken with everyone from the Rat Pack to the Pope; (he died shortly after the filming); the hat/coat check woman, whom we are told has her secrets. "Didn't you tell me Tyrone Power hit on you?" one of the employees asks her. As they give their interviews, they're all soon to be unemployed, some there over 30 years and more.

This is a well done documentary that leaves one with sadness and the unhappy realization that nothing is forever. Not even Chasen's.

I recall as a kid, watching "I Love Lucy" reruns, that Chasen's and The Brown Derby were THE celeb-spotting places to eat. But, if that's all they offer, they'll be dead as soon as the celebs move on to the next New Kid In Town, like The Ivy. They will never forget you 'til somebody new comes along.

Watching "Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's", I saw golden age celebs by the dozens, who hadn't dined there in decades, acting like they were visiting beloved family. The staffers seem to be staring and saying internally "Where ya been all these years? We wouldn't have to close if you'd eaten here once in awhile!".

But, whose fault is that? The restaurant business is very demanding and fickle. If you don't keep pace with what the dining public wants --- not just wax-works celebs to ogle --- you go out of business.

Having been in such a position, I felt deeply for the many loyal employees to knew their best employment days were about to end forever.

However.... I'm really glad I'll never again have to listen to loudmouth celeb-worshipper Tommy Gallagher, who just had to be in EVERY celeb photo snapped there; and I'm glad I never had to work for mincing, caustic bully/queen Raymond Bilboon, who seriously needs a good b-slapping in the ladies' room. I'm glad I never got stuck sitting next to them on a plane. Maybe those two are why the celebs no longer went there.

My late father was in "the business" and I had some exposure to the Hollywood crowd in the 60's. I was never lucky enough to dine at Chasen's, but wish I had been. This eatery, along with Scandia, The Brown Derby and Cyrano's have all closed now, victims of neglect. The current clientèle are too health conscious to ever want the truly delicious fare and wonderfully elegant ambiance of a Chasen's. The closest thing we still have to such a place is Musso Frank's on Hollywood Blvd. I have eaten there and am very glad it's still around. You can enter that place and suspend disbelief: it becomes the 1940's and Boogie or Grant or "Stanny" (Barbara Stanwyk) might come walking in at any moment....or so I began to believe after savoring a truly fine vodka martini at the bar.

So this documentary did bring back a feeling to me and a longing for those times, my now deceased parents and a sense of loss of a Hollywood that had some real class.