Last night started out with a terrific meal at the Chart House in Dobbs Ferry. Kerri treated because it was Andrew’s birthday. As far as chains go, Chart House has to be way up there among the very best, even elite steakhouses included. Just like the one in Sausalito, the Dobbs Ferry location also had a gorgeous view of the water. The fruity-ass martini specials weren’t too bad either, but the real draw is the food. The mini crab cakes were similar to the ones I make but perhaps a little underseasoned, but compensated for nicely by the zippy whole grain mustard sauce. It was super reasonable too, with 6 cakes on the plate for only $13. The shrimp and oyster platter was also a generous size and only $16 which was especially surprising since it included quite a bit of lump crab meat in the center which was not even mentioned in the menu description. None of the seafood specials caught my eye so I went with the prime rib which was of course delicious and served with horseradish sauce like it’s supposed to. Since Kerri and Andrew aren’t part of my usual dining crew I didn’t want to ruin the vibe of the meal with anxiety over the impending check so I decided to order the cheap but always reliable Rosemount Shiraz. Andrew had the filet mignon which was perfectly cooked and Kerri had the Shrimp Fresca which was parmesan crusted shrimp over angel hair pasta pomodoro with lump crab meat. I sampled a bit of it and it was really superb. For dessert, they had a stellar key lime pie. Key lime pie is one of my absolute favorite desserts and the Chart House’s version was one of the best I’ve ever had. Certainly the filling was one of the best ever; the graham cracker crust could have been ever so slightly firmer. One funny from the end of the meal- the waiter comes over and waits while we peruse the dessert menu. Andrew asks me what Dry Sack is (a sherry), and without skipping a beat I replied “it’s a medical condition dammit, but my doctor says he’s got a lotion that’ll cure me right up!”.

So I get home from dinner around 10p, but I am so damn eager to get back to Crying Out Love so I plop in the next disc and start watching. Naturally I get all sucked in again and end up watching all the rest of the discs, finishing at 2am. I have to say, this was far and away the saddest, most depressing thing I’ve ever seen, yet profound and thought provoking in so many ways that it still somehow managed to leave me with a sense of internal optimism and a renewed appreciation for life, love, friends and family. Two nights of watching this incredibly written and beautifully filmed tragedy left me a sniffling, blubbery mess. As stoopid and sappy as it sounds, I really feel like I’ve lived through something special in watching this. Big thanks to Harriet for being thoughtful enough to send me the discs. I can’t imagine anything I’ll ever watch again being able to have that same kind of emotional impact.

[Edit: In case any of you try to find COL on dvd anywhere- just be sure you find the 11-epsiode TV drama version, NOT the 138 minute movie version which apparently sucked by comparison. Also obviously make sure you get one with English subtitles and in a region encoding that your dvd player can play.]