It’s another sunny weekday on Larchmont Avenue in Los Angeles, and at noon, the estimated wait time for a table at the new diner on the block is at least an hour. Welcome to Max & Helen’s, the very happening and very small 40-seat hot spot from the TV producer and host Philip “Phil” Rosenthal, who created Everybody Loves Raymond and Somebody Feed Phil, and the legendary restaurateur Nancy Silverton, the force behind Osteria Mozza and Campanile. It’s a family affair: the diner is named after Rosenthal’s parents, and his daughter, Lily, runs operations with her husband, Mason Royal.
If they were making a movie about the place, the quotable line might be “If you build it, they will come … and wait.” That holds true for everyone from Steven Spielberg to Timothée Chalamet to the city’s mayor, Karen Bass. I wanted to find out why, so over matzo-ball soup and a giant sourdough waffle smothered in maple butter, I asked Rosenthal and Silverton a few questions.