{"id":19123,"date":"2025-10-23T06:51:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T06:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/19123\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T06:51:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T06:51:16","slug":"phil-rosenthal-and-chef-nancy-silverton-open-max-helens-diner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/19123\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Rosenthal and chef Nancy Silverton open Max &#038; Helen&#8217;s diner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Television writer and producer Phil Rosenthal had always loved the dining world. Then one day, his wife, Monica Horan \u2014\u00a0who starred on the 15-time Emmy-winning sitcom he created, CBS\u2019s Everybody Loves Raymond \u2014\u00a0presented him with an opportunity to become a part of it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said, \u2018One of the moms at [our kids\u2019] school is opening a restaurant. She wanted to know if you\u2019re interested in investing,\u2019\u201d recalls Rosenthal over lunch in late August, nearly 25 years later. \u201cI said, \u2018I might be. Can I taste the food?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He knew investing in restaurants was risky. However, he tasted the food former Campanile chef de cuisine Suzanne Tracht intended for her classic American chophouse and declared he was \u201cin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis restaurant is still going: Jar,\u201d he says of the Beverly Grove stalwart that opened in 2001. It was through Jar that Rosenthal encountered another renowned local chef: Nancy Silverton. \u201c\u2018Oh, this famous creator of La Brea Bakery and Campanile is a friend of Suzanne Tracht?\u2019\u201d Rosenthal recalls learning. \u201cShe\u2019s coming Monday nights to make mozzarella dishes at our bar? I\u2019m like, \u2018Great!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat coincided with when I started testing the waters for the idea of what would become Mozza, at Jar,\u201d Silverton relates over the phone. \u201cWe called it Mozzarella Monday, and I turned their bar into a very mini version of what was to become the mozzarella bar at the Osteria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"903\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_8129-1200x903.jpeg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal and chef Nancy Silverton\" class=\"wp-image-276649\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Phil Rosenthal and chef Nancy SilvertonCredit: Courtesy Nancy Silverton<\/p>\n<p>Rosenthal vividly remembers sitting there at the bar. \u201cShe pulls mozzarella and makes a beautiful dish. And says, \u2018Try this,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Wow. This is phenomenal.\u2019 And Monday night becomes my favorite night of the week, because Nancy\u2019s going to be there. Then I learned that this is a rehearsal for her, because she wants to open a place with Mario Batali. Babbo is the best restaurant in New York! They\u2019re coming here? This sounds like an unbelievable dream.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe immediately expressed interest in being an investor at Mozza,\u201d recalls Silverton \u2014\u00a0who notes that, while Rosenthal wasn\u2019t then as active in the food community, she could sense his love for it. \u201cWhen he talks about food, his world lights up. He just loves food!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rosenthal persisted. \u201cThey didn\u2019t need investors, but I held onto her until they let me invest,\u201d he says. \u201cThey felt sorry for me, and so that started my journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Osteria Mozza (which opened in 2007 and has maintained its Michelin star since 2008), Rosenthal\u2019s invested in other Silverton projects as well as French caf\u00e9 R\u00e9publique and other local eateries through the years. \u201cI\u2019m involved with like 25 things \u2014 everything from tiny things to big things,\u201d Rosenthal says of his current portfolio. \u201cCooking is one of the arts to me: it makes the culture better. It makes life better for me, having great restaurants in our town.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Considering it further, he hits upon the deeper reason he\u2019s invested in so many restaurants in L.A. Adds Rosenthal, \u201cA good restaurant transports you to another time and place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_MAXHELENS_FOOD_0002-1200x801.jpg\" alt=\"Max &amp; Helen's\" class=\"wp-image-276650\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Max &amp; Helen\u2019sCredit: Photographed by Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center is-style-altfont has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-xs-font-size wp-elements-a392843e06eac12cec56e735f4f8219f has-lg-margin-top\" style=\"letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase\">Scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n<p>ONE \u201cAMATEUR NIGHT\u201d AT A New Jersey nightclub in the 1950s, an aspiring standup comedian named Max Rosenthal took the stage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy dad was a tailor in the Garment Center [of Manhattan],\u201d says Rosenthal. \u201cHe liked telling old jokes on his nights off.\u201d In the crowd that evening happened to be a female paralegal named Helen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mom was on a date with another fellow, and saw this skinny tailor from New York get up and tell jokes \u2014\u00a0and she fell in love with him,\u201d recalls Rosenthal. \u201cShe said, \u2018I like this guy better than the guy I\u2019m with.\u2019 I owe everything to his sense of humor \u2026 and to her sense of humor, appreciating his.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Rosenthals were both German immigrants who sought refuge in Manhattan after surviving the Holocaust. \u201cMy mom was in a concentration camp,\u201d says Rosenthal of Helen. \u201cMy dad got out of Berlin after Kristallnacht [the 1938 Nazi attack on Jews]. [They] didn\u2019t have a lot of money,\u201d he explains. But what they had in abundance was humor. \u201cThey were drop-dead funny,\u201d says Rosenthal, who was born in Queens and raised upstate in New City, Rockland County, along with his younger brother, Richard. \u201cWhen we weren\u2019t yelling in the house, we were laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His parents\u2019 talents didn\u2019t extend to the kitchen. \u201cThe one thing they were not was cooks,\u201d Rosenthal says. \u201c[They had] very simple tastes. We never had a bottle of hot sauce in the house,\u201d he says, pointing to one on the table. \u201cMy dad, if he had a sandwich with meat on it, there was no condiment. That\u2019s how plain everything was. It was just salt! My joke was, \u2018In our house, meat was a punishment.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"904\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_MAXHELENS_FOOD_0004-1200x904.jpg\" alt=\"Max &amp; Helen's\" class=\"wp-image-276651\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Max &amp; Helen\u2019s hot sauceCredit: Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>Everything changed for Rosenthal in the late \u201970s when he started college. \u201cJust going to Hofstra University on Long Island, and going to a cheap Italian restaurant with my friends and having pasta with sauce, I went out of my mind! They said, \u2018Why are you so excited?\u2019 I said, \u2018This pasta is the best thing I ever ate. \u2026 That\u2019s garlic?\u2019 I never had that flavor! So it\u2019s like in The Wizard of Oz \u2014\u00a0when [Dorothy] opens the door, and now the movie\u2019s in color.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At 17, Rosenthal discovered a whole world of spicy and flavorful New York food. Then, he went to Europe \u2014\u00a0on a courier flight to Paris. \u201cI had very little money to go,\u201d he says of his first trip, at age 23. \u201c[But] you have a baguette and cheese, you sit in the park, you\u2019re as good as anybody. Florence was even more mind-blowing: If I like the pasta and sauce in Hempstead, New York, the pasta and sauce in Florence, Italy was another level!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rosenthal had an important epiphany: \u201cRight then and there, I thought, \u2018Oh, this is what your money is for.\u2019 For these life-changing experiences. There\u2019s no more mind-expanding thing we can do in life than travel.\u201d So that\u2019s just what he did.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Somebody_Feed_Phil_n_S8_E1_00_33_23_19_R-1200x675.jpg\" alt=\"Somebody Feed Phil.\" class=\"wp-image-276647\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Phil Rosenthal filming on location in Amsterdam for Episode 801 of Somebody Feed Phil. Credit: Credit: Courtesy of Netflix \/ \u00a9 2025 Netflix, Inc.<\/p>\n<p>After dabbling as an actor in New York, Rosenthal moved over to the production side \u2014\u00a0and to Los Angeles, in 1989. He served as a writer on shows like Coach and Baby Talk before creating his sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond for Ray Romano, which ran from 1996-2005 (scoring 73 Emmy nods and two best comedy series wins). He directed President Bill Clinton in a 2000 White House Correspondents dinner video, and he won a Peabody Award for co-writing the 9\/11 telethon America: A Tribute to Heroes. Then he did the project that had his heart.<\/p>\n<p>In 2015, PBS debuted the six-episode series, I\u2019ll Have What Phil\u2019s Having \u2014\u00a0in which Rosenthal explores different travel destinations by way of food. Then, a reworked version of the show, Somebody Feed Phil, premiered on Netflix in January 2018. Rosenthal sold the series by describing himself in one line: \u201cI\u2019m exactly like Anthony Bourdain if he was afraid of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The long-running hit show, which released its eighth season on June 18 in 190 countries, follows Rosenthal\u2019s comedic epicurean adventures in the U.S. and abroad \u2014\u00a0in culinary havens from Bangkok to Marrakesh to Las Vegas and Boston. Rosenthal is joined by leading experts, chefs and celebrity guests\u00a0\u2014\u00a0like Silverton, who accompanied him to Brooklyn\u2019s Peter Lugers, and Romano, who recently joined him in Sin City.<\/p>\n<p>But to Rosenthal, his two-time Emmy Award- and James Beard Award-nominated show is about much more than food. \u201cThe real message is that I think the world would be better if we all could experience a little bit of other people\u2019s experience,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I\u2019m using food and my stupid sense of humor to get you that real message. I\u2019m trying to show you people in the world who are doing good, and who are loving and sweet and kind. And I think we need this today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1033\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_PHIL_ROSENTHAL_0020-1200x1033.jpg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal \" class=\"wp-image-276671\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Phil Rosenthal Credit: Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>Each episode of the first two seasons ends with a video call Rosenthal makes to his parents, Max and Helen. \u201cThey were always the best part of the show, and they always delivered,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was like Zooming with Robin Williams where you\u2019re going to get big laughs as soon as they\u2019re on. They\u2019re funny without intentionally being funny. They start arguing, and I\u2019m like, \u2018You know we\u2019re here watching you?\u2019 \u2026 We all have parents. This is what people relate to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After Helen died in 2019, Max continued to appear until his own death in 2021. A tribute episode that aired in October 2022 honored both parents, and from the fifth season on, Rosenthal has called a celebrity guest to tell a joke in his dad\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n<p>Another key development in the fifth season was when Rosenthal visited Maine. In a May 2022 installment, he eats at Maine\u2019s oldest diner, the 15-seat counter-only Palace Diner in Biddeford. \u201cI was blown away,\u201d he says of the small eatery, housed in a historic 1927 Pollard train car taken over by chefs from Gramercy Tavern. \u201cAll they did was elevate the simple dinner classics \u2014\u00a0eggs, tuna melt, burger \u2014 by using the best possible ingredients. I need this,\u201d Rosenthal recalls telling himself. \u201cI want this where I live.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"801\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_PHIL_ROSENTHAL_0002-801x1200.jpg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal\" class=\"wp-image-276653\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Phil Rosenthal with a cup of coffee.Credit: Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>Diner food also tapped into something personal for him. \u201c[My father\u2019s] favorite thing in life was very soft scrambled eggs,\u201d Rosenthal says. \u201cHe called them \u2018fluffy.\u2019 \u2018My eggs fluffy?\u2019 he would say to my mother. And she would say, \u2018Max. First of all, I\u2019m listening to the opera. And I\u2019ve been making your eggs for 60 years. You think I know how to make them?\u2019 Every day for 65 years of marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Rosenthal turns serious. \u201cOn [Max\u2019s] tombstone, it says, \u2018Are my eggs fluffy?\u2019 And on the tombstone next to him, it says, \u2018I\u2019m listening to the opera.\u2019 So the lesson for me was, \u2018If you can find a simple joy in life like that, fluffy eggs, opera on the radio, maybe you\u2019ll be happy every day.\u2019 You don\u2019t want much \u2014\u00a0you just want this simple thing. The diner is the simple thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>A diner is Rosenthal\u2019s favorite type of place. \u201cIt\u2019s truly democratic with a small \u2018d,&#8217;\u201d he says. \u201cDiners are disappearing in America, and that\u2019s a shame. They hit all the price points \u2014 everyone can go to a diner; it can become the center of a community. And if you lose the diner, maybe you lose the center of the community and the community itself. And maybe you lose the country.\u201d A gleam returns to his eyes as he sings with resolve: \u201cSo I\u2019m gonna fix everything with this diner!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p>EVERY MORNING, ROSENTHAL GOES for a walk on Larchmont Boulevard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m usually at Go Get Em [Tiger] with my friends, and I drink a coffee. I walk my dog, and we go,\u201d says Rosenthal. \u201cWhen I moved here, there were two diners on this street. They went away, in the \u201990s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since his visit to the Palace Diner, Rosenthal waited years for the right Larchmont Village space to free up. \u201cOn Larchmont, you can [only] go into an existing restaurant space,\u201d he explains. Then, in December 2023, the 35-year-old restaurant Le Petite Greek at 127 Larchmont Blvd. closed. \u201cI jumped on it,\u201d says Rosenthal of the space now home to Max &amp; Helen\u2019s (<a rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.maxandhelens.com\/\">maxandhelens.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Right after he\u2019d returned from Maine, Rosenthal had approached Silverton with the idea. \u201cShe goes, \u2018I\u2019m in,&#8217;\u201d he says. \u201cNot even a not even a moment\u2019s hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"967\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_0154-preview-1200x967.jpg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal with chef Nancy Silverton\" class=\"wp-image-276646\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Phil Rosenthal with chef Nancy SilvertonCredit: Courtesy Nancy Silverton<\/p>\n<p>Silverton, who serves as executive chef, knew Rosenthal was passionate about this project for many reasons. \u201cIt was the passing of his father and wanting to honor both of his parents. It was his nostalgic love for diners and going to the Palace Diner and realizing how fantastic a contemporary diner could be,\u201d she says. \u201cBut [it was] also his love of the neighborhood \u2014\u00a0meaning Larchmont. He [loved] the idea of opening a place that he could eat at, and contributing to his community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite living nearby, the four-time James Beard Award-winning chef may not have been the obvious choice. \u201cDiners are an East Coast thing,\u201d says Silverton, a Sherman Oaks and Encino native. \u201cWe had coffee shops,\u201d she adds, clarifying that she means places like Dupars. \u201cI was never a pancake eater, never a waffle eater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, Rosenthal had faith that his favorite chef would create the best version of every single item \u2014\u00a0and they worked in tandem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was very involved in every tasting,\u201d says Silverton, who had to convince him to pare down the menu. \u201cA contemporary diner is not like the old-fashioned diner where there were hundreds of choices.\u201d Their offerings \u2014 now more concise \u2014 are made with top ingredients, such as Larder Baking Co. bread and Snake River Farms wagyu beef. Silverton notes, \u201cIt\u2019s comfort food, but with quality ingredients and more technique than there was back in the diner age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_MAXHELENS_FOOD_0006-1200x801.jpg\" alt=\"Max &amp; Helen's\" class=\"wp-image-276655\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Max &amp; Helen\u2019s matzo ball soup with dill, inspired by Rosenthal\u2019s mother\u2019s recipeCredit: Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>Rosenthal imagined elevated takes on traditional diner staples. \u201cBut this is Max and Helen\u2019s, so I wanted their personality in it,\u201d he says. \u201cSo Max\u2019s Fluffy Eggs are on the menu. And Helen\u2019s Matzo Ball Soup,\u201d he says of his mother\u2019s best dish, that even Daniel Boulud admired in an episode. \u201cThe Murray Dog is a hot dog named after my dog.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Breakfast is served all day. Start with a cinnamon roll or a toasted bagel from their favorite place, Courage, with cream cheese and smoked salmon. (\u201cThe Jewish culture has crept into the diner culture,\u201d Rosenthal notes.) Egg fans can try a New York-style bacon, egg and cheese sandwich; an omelet of the day; or the Larchmont grand slam. Other griddle items include French toast, pancakes and a waffle topped with \u201cmaple butter\u201d (butter and maple syrup mixed together) \u2014\u00a0that\u2019s made with an old-school waffle maker Silverton found and is already a staff favorite.<\/p>\n<p>Cottage cheese is offered in place of the yogurt that Silverton points out wasn\u2019t around then, and while avocado can be ordered as a side, there\u2019s nothing as trendy as avocado toast here. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1140\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_MAXHELENS_FOOD_0005-1140x1200.jpg\" alt=\"Max &amp; Helen's food\" class=\"wp-image-276657\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Max &amp; Helen\u2019s chef\u2019s saladCredit: Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>Lunch and dinner options include a chef\u2019s salad with overflowing sections of pepper jack, ham, broccoli, tomato and cucumber; classic soups, from tomato to the matzoh ball seasoned with dill; and sandwiches, such as a hearty BLT, tuna melt and turkey club. <\/p>\n<p>Rosenthal felt strongly about including his standard diner order, a cheeseburger deluxe, alongside Silverton\u2019s favorite, the patty melt \u2014 though there was much debate over this.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe goes, \u2018I\u2019m gonna do a patty melt. It\u2019s so good, we don\u2019t need a burger,\u2019\u201d Rosenthal says. What Silverton modeled after Ships Coffee Shop\u2019s Ship Shape Burger (which she describes as \u201can incredibly juicy house-ground patty on a very buttery griddled rye bread [with] their version of secret sauce\u201d) makes a strong case. Yet Rosenthal still wanted a burger. \u201cBut the patty melt might be one of the stars of the menu,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Entrees range from meatloaf to chili to a hot turkey dish with gravy \u2014\u00a0\u201cone of Phil\u2019s nostalgic dishes,\u201d Silverton says. \u201cWhen he was first asked, \u2018Why did you want to open a diner?\u2019 he said he wanted to have an open-faced turkey sandwich whenever he wanted.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1073\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_PHIL_ROSENTHAL_0035-1200x1073.jpg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal\" class=\"wp-image-276658\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Phil Rosenthal cheers for the club sandwich.Credit: Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>Another classic item they perfected are the milkshakes. \u201cWe went all over town finding the best shake,\u201d says Rosenthal, who ventured with Silverton from Shake Shack to Fair Oaks Pharmacy in Pasadena. After realizing chopping the ice cream as it\u2019s being blended gives it great consistency, Silverton created flavors ranging from a strawberry shake with homemade strawberry puree to an Oreo option that Rosenthal calls \u201cthe best cookies-and-cream anything I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d The diner also serves wine and beer.<\/p>\n<p>For dessert, Silverton puts her spin on diner classics like chocolate pudding, Jell-O parfait and a triple-layer chocolate cake. And more dishes are ready to be introduced: \u201cAs we get more confident, [we\u2019ll] add back the stuff we like,\u201d Rosenthal says. \u201cI already have dreams of other things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silverton \u2014\u00a0who\u2019ll next be opening Korean-Italian pasta bar Lapaba in Koreatown and just created a patio menu for Soho House West Hollywood \u2014 enjoyed the challenge of expanding her repertoire. \u201cI had never made matzo ball soup before,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is very new, but I\u2019m very happy. And most importantly, Phil is really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p>FOR ROSENTHAL, THE DINER IS is a family affair. His daughter Lily, 28, serves as creative director, and she worked alongside designer Matt Winter (a vintage buff behind Firestone Brewery and the Petersen Automotive Museum\u2019s Meyers Manx Cafe) to create what Rosenthal envisioned as a diner from 100 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s so much wood, and these textures remind me of my grandparents\u2019 house,\u201d Lily says. She would ask herself: \u201cWould my grandparents walk in and say, \u2018Oy,\u2019 or \u2018Oh, that\u2019s very nice.\u2019 They like simple, not ungapatchka, which is over-the-top [in Yiddish]. We wanted everything to feel welcoming for that generation and all generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"880\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_TEAM_PHIL_ROSENTHAL_0003-1200x880.jpg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal, Lily Rosenthal, chef Mason\" class=\"wp-image-276659\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Phil Rosenthal, daughter Lily Rosenthal and chef Mason Royal, Lily\u2019s husbandCredit: Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>The 6,100-square-foot space, which seats 45 inside and 35 on the front patio, conjures a train car (\u00e0 la the Palace Diner) with wooden booths and vintage fixtures. A counter with 1920s bar stools and classic soda fountains is lined with tile, and walls feature plaster with a detail Winter hand-combed to evoke post-WWI times. \u201cEverything was plaster,\u201d Winter says. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have a lot of materials available in the \u201920s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also sourced antique frames. Says Lily: \u201cI have all my grandparents\u2019 old wedding and vacation photos, and we\u2019re going to hang them in the restaurant. So you\u2019ll really see who they are.\u201d Cheeky illustrations of Max and Helen Rosenthal appear on napkins (which read \u201cOy, you spilled\u201d) and hot sauce bottles (labeled \u201cNot for Me\u201d), as well as on the merchandise Lily oversees. Her new husband, chef Mason Royal, is managing the diner\u2019s opening; former Chi Spacca GM Greer Glassman completes the team.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_TEAM_PHIL_ROSENTHAL_0005-1-1200x801.jpg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal\" class=\"wp-image-276662\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Greer Glassman, Lily Rosenthal, Mason Royal and Phil RosenthalCredit: Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n<p>After starting renovations in February 2024, permits and inspections postponed things. \u201cSo it\u2019s taken longer than we expected,\u201d Lily says, \u201cbut it\u2019s worth the wait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arriving at an opening date for Max and Helen\u2019s (slated to debut mid-November) proved challenging: Rosenthal is currently on a North American tour through 25 cities until November. The New York Times bestselling author is launching two books \u2014 his second cookbook, Phil\u2019s Favorites (out Nov. 4 from Simon Element), featuring recipes from chefs he\u2019s met as well as family and friends, and a second children\u2019s book with Lily, Just Try It! Someplace New! (out March 2026). And he hosts a podcast with Rolling Stone\u2019s David Wild called Naked Lunch. The multihyphenate has no intention of slowing down.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1054\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Phils-Favorites_High-Res-Jacket-1-1054x1200.jpg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal book\" class=\"wp-image-276664\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Rosenthal\u2019s second cookbook, Phil\u2019s Favorites, is out Nov. 4 from Simon Element.Credit: Phil Rosenthal<\/p>\n<p>At 65, Rosenthal aims to keep traveling and hosting Somebody Feed Phil. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s my life\u2019s work now,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s about connecting with people, and the audience is telling me we need it. So I\u2019ve got to keep doing it as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He hopes Max &amp; Helen\u2019s proves just as essential. \u201cIf we\u2019ve done our job, it\u2019s a gift to the neighborhood,\u201d he says of a project that\u2019s also clearly a gift to his parents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish I could do more for them than just name a diner after them. I wish I could bring them back,\u201d Rosenthal says. \u201cBut this is my way of bringing them back and having them with me every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1186\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LAM_PHIL_ROSENTHAL_0018-1200x1186.jpg\" alt=\"Phil Rosenthal\" class=\"wp-image-245117\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Phil Rosenthal sips a chocolate shake at his new diner, Max &amp; Helen\u2019s.Credit: Photographed by Irvin Rivera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Television writer and producer Phil Rosenthal had always loved the dining world. Then one day, his wife, Monica&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,15909,47,50,49,15910,15911,15912],"class_list":{"0":"post-19123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-larchmont","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","14":"tag-los-angeles-news","15":"tag-nancy-silverton","16":"tag-phil-rosenthal","17":"tag-somebody-feed-phil"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}