Me with Phil Rosenthal
Last night I had dinner with Phil & Monica Rosenthal at his diner, Max and Helen’s, named after his parents. Those of you are addicted to his Netflix show (like I am), “Somebody Feed Phil,” remember Max & Helen because on every show, no matter where he was in the world, eating his way through some city, he always took time to cut to his parents, in New Jersey, in order to get a joke from his father. He’s a deep family man and, besides the amazing food at Helen & Max, this maybe is what makes it unique. This diner is a little island of love. Lily Rosenthal, their daughter works there and her husband, Mason Royal, is a chef there. Of course, It’s the one and only chef, Nancy Silverton, who developed the menu with input from Mason, and let me tell you it lives up to its rapidly growing reputation. On weekends there’s already an eight hour wait. It’s worth it. No one is disappointed.
Sharing a malt with Monica Rosenthal
You won’t believe what I ate: first came the French fries and I swear, they were the best fries I have ever had in my very long life!l Then the pastrami sandwich…OMG! Then the already famous waffle with maple butter that didn’t even require maple syrup. It was the fluffiest, most scrumptious waffle I ever devoured. Then there was an out of this world hot dog followed by a fantastic tuna melt and a divine salad, a hot chocolate that I swear was better than anything I ever had in Paris and a chocolate malt that you see me drinking above. No, I didn’t eat all of everything, but I had a lot of all of it, and I can’t wait to go back.
Sitting in a booth near the entrance with Phil and Monica was a special treat. He greets everyone as they come in, asks them if they liked the food as they’re leaving and the answer is always an astounding yes!! I love seeing the faces of people as they came in and recognized Phil. Sort of like going to Disneyland and meeting Walt Disney.
It’s hard to describe how perfect the actual, physical place is: the lighting, the way it’s laid out, the old-fashioned quality. This place is the real deal. See for yourself when you come to L.A.
