Nancy Silverton, known for legendary restaurants such as Chi Spacca and Osteria Mozza, is embarking on a new culinary terrain – classic American diner food. (photo courtesy of Nancy Silverton)
Michelin star recipient, James Beard Award winner and culinary legend Nancy Silverton never seems to stop. Her next venture? Opening a diner in her backyard – on Larchmont.
The Los Angeles native, famous for popularizing artisanal bread at La Brea Bakery and for her Michelin-starred Italian food at Osteria Mozza, was approached with the idea by Phil Rosenthal, star of Netflix’s “Somebody Feed Phil” where he dines at different restaurants around the world. Rosenthal had the idea to open a diner after eating at the Palace Diner in Maine – a 15-seat countertop restaurant inside a locomotive dining car.
“He got this idea, and he couldn’t let go of it and was like ‘I have to open a place like Palace diner, and I have to do it in my neighborhood,’” Silverton said. “It has to be a neighborhood restaurant where you can get coffee all day long, a bottomless cup of coffee.”
Silverton, a Larchmont area resident for more than 30 years, said she wanted to open an old-school neighborhood diner – a place where people can see familiar faces and everyone knows the owner. The restaurant will take over the former Le Petit Greek location and will be called Max and Helen’s, after Rosenthal’s parents
“That is also the beauty of a diner – where everybody knows who the owner is and can talk to them,” she said. “I think that’s a real asset.”
One of the most acclaimed and accomplished chefs in Los Angeles history, Silverton said one challenge with the diner’s opening has been exploring a new culinary terrain – classic American diner food. In designing the restaurant’s menu, she said she hopes to honor the classics of the American diner, distinct from upscale American breakfast restaurants. Max and Helen’s will not have avocado toast, yogurt parfait or breakfast burritos.
Instead, she hopes to strike a balance by properly cooking scrambled eggs to have no brown spots but also serving a classic patty melt, specifically inspired by the old-school diner Chips in Hawthorne. Silverton aims to create the dish that keeps people coming back, she added.
“When I speak to people that have that diner nostalgia, it’s always about certain dishes that brought them to that diner or made them nostalgic,” she said.
However, she knows that delivering on people’s typical diner expectations will not be easy. One main challenge, she said, will be providing guests with enough options while working out of a small kitchen. In preparing, she has focused on simplifying cooking techniques so the kitchen can meet high volume demand and speed of service that guests expect from a diner.
On a bigger scale, Silverton, who recently opened Osteria Mozza in Washington, D.C. and is opening Lapaba, a Korean and Italian pasta bar in Koreatown in the fall, said the nationwide restaurant industry faces enormous challenges of keeping prices down while meeting the costs of goods and labor.
After many years of awards, acclaim and new openings, Silverton said that eating at restaurants with people you love is the whole point and she hopes people will find a home at Max and Helen’s.
“Restaurants are really important that way because they do bring back and hold those memories that are lifelong,” she said. “I do hope that restaurants continue to mean something to people in that way – not just a place to eat.”
Max and Helen’s is set to open soon and will be located at 127 Larchmont Blvd.
Dining and Cooking