Was sitting in my borrowed office at 5 Times Square yesterday evening, wondering where to go to dinner before seeing "Stephen Merchant Live: Hello, Ladies..." at Town Hall.

It had to be nearby. And had to be a bit touristy, a bit dramatic, to get us properly in the mood for slightly off-kilter stand-up. I scrolled the New York mag online restaurant listings and hit upon Inakaya.

It's a robata-yaki restaurant, featuring vegetables and seafood/meat grilled while you watch. Yes, it's a bit over-the-top, but the minute we walked in and heard the host and chefs singing out greetings, I wished I'd brought my sketchbook along.

Fortunately I happened to have a sheet of plain Levenger heavyweight paper in my day planner and a Platinum Preppy fountain pen, so I dashed this off while waiting for our various courses to arrive (on long wooden paddles, accompanied by more theatrics). Sadly the ink in the pen isn't waterproof, so I had to be careful when I added color.

Enjoyed the food and fun, and laughed our heads off at Stephen Merchant later on. Totally worth it!

It's cold up here in Connecticut, but this past Monday, I was eating lunch outdoors at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida, and soaking up some sun.