Entertainment
Phil Rosenthal serves up comfort food and memories at Max and Helen’s
After eight seasons traveling the world for his Netflix series “Somebody Feed Phil,” Phil Rosenthal’s next food adventure is keeping him much closer to home. The 65-year-old producer is opening a neighborhood spot in Los Angeles called Max and Helen’s.
“This is a hundred-year-old neighborhood,” Rosenthal said. “I want it to look like we found a hundred-year-old diner and it’s been here for a hundred years.”
The diner, set to open later this month in Larchmont, is named for Rosenthal’s late parents, who were regulars on his travel show and inspired characters in “Everybody Loves Raymond,” the CBS sitcom he co-created nearly 30 years ago.
The menu will lean on comfort food: Powdered donut holes, sourdough waffles with maple butter and fluffy scrambled eggs, a nod to his father’s favorite dish.
“My dad loved fluffy eggs so much on his tombstone, it says, ‘Are my eggs fluffy?'” Rosenthal said. “The lesson for me is, if you can find a simple joy in your life, maybe you’ll be happy every day.”
Rosenthal grew reflective when speaking about his father’s absence.
“I’m getting a little emotional that he can’t be here for this perfect rendition of the thing he loved the most,” he said.
Building the world of “Everybody Loves Raymond”
Simplicity, Rosenthal said, has always been key to his work. “Everybody Loves Raymond” ran for nine years by avoiding topical humor.
“You don’t put in Bill Clinton jokes in the ’90s,” he said. “You do the things that seem to be everlasting.”
After struggling to find a follow-up to the sitcom, Rosenthal pitched his Netflix show with one line: “I’m exactly like Anthony Bourdain if he was afraid of everything.” The food-and-travel series grew into a surprise hit, even drawing sold-out crowds when Rosenthal spoke about it on tour. “Ray [Romano] came out on stage with me and couldn’t believe the size of the crowd,” he said.
Rosenthal has enlisted acclaimed chef Nancy Silverton as executive chef, while his soon-to-be son-in-law Mason Royal will run the kitchen. Beyond the food, he hopes the diner will anchor his neighborhood.
“Diners are disappearing from America,” he said. “These become centers of communities…. If the center of the community disappears, maybe you lose the sense of community and then maybe you lose the country. So I’m gonna fix everything with my diner.”
His production company is called Lucky Bastards, a label that still fits as he finds new joy in simple pleasures and fresh projects at 65.
But Rosenthal brushed off any suggestion of retirement.
“I could. That’s not fun,” he said. “If you think you’ve got something to say or a point to make, or feel like your work is impacting on one guy or one little kid even, who wants to stop?”
- Araghchi says progress made on main guiding principles.
- Asks US to desist from threatening use of force against Iran.
- Hopes talks will lead to sustainable and negotiated solution.
GENEVA: Iran and the United States reached an understanding on the main “guiding principles” in a second round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday but work still needs to be done, said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The progress does not mean an agreement will be reached soon but the path has started, he told Iranian media after the talks concluded.
Iranian state media reported earlier that Iran would temporarily shut part of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil supply route, as it held talks over its nuclear programme with the United States, which has sent a battle force to the Gulf region to press Tehran to make concessions.
US President Donald Trump has said “regime change” in Tehran may be the best thing that can happen, while Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that any US attempts to depose his government would fail.
Just as the talks got under way in Geneva, Iranian state media reported that parts of the strategic strait would close for a few hours due to “security precautions” while Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards conducted military drills there.
Tehran has in the past threatened to shut down the strait to commercial shipping if it is attacked, a move that would choke off a fifth of global oil flows and drive up crude prices.
Alongside Araghchi, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part in the Geneva talks, which were being mediated by Oman, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Speaking at a disarmament conference in Geneva after talks were held between US and Iranian representatives in the western Swiss city earlier in the day, Araghchi said the US should immediately desist from threatening the use of force against Iran.
He said that any sustainable agreement must ensure full recognition of Iran’s legitimate rights.
Araghchi said: “A new window of opportunity has opened, we are hopeful negotiations will lead to a sustainable and negotiated solution.”
Queen Camilla got a cultural fix on Tuesday during a busy day in Bath, exploring the city’s arts and literary scene with curiosity and charm.
At the Holburne Museum, the Queen wandered through the exhibits with evident fascination, taking in each piece as curator Rosemary Harden guided her through the collection.
Her visit included the Zandra Rhodes: A Life in Print exhibition that brings a selection of screen-printed garments from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
Camilla revealed a personal connection, “My sister Annabel Elliot had a wedding dress made by Rhodes,” she shared, nodding to the designer who also famously dressed the late Princess Diana.
The royal then made her way to Bath’s Theatre Royal, meeting staff and volunteers while checking out a new community studio.
She also unveiled a toy theatre, part of the theatre’s ongoing plans to create an engaging space for local families.
The Queen then rounded off her cultural tour with a stop at @PersephoneBooks, the independent publisher and bookshop founded in 1999, which specialises in reprinting forgotten gems mostly fiction and non-fiction by women writers.
There, she chatted with Francesca and Nicola Beauman, taking in the literary treasures that make the shop a Bath institution.
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