I’ve cooked in a lot of kitchens, written eight cookbooks, and hosted more Shabbat meals than I can count, but this one was new even for me: a full shift, apron on, working the line and the floor at the Milky Way, the kosher dairy restaurant that has anchored Pico Boulevard, the heart of Jewish Los Angeles, since 1977.
Pico is bustling with kosher restaurants, Judaica shops, synagogues, and families. It’s a street that has been feeding this community for generations. And right in the middle of it sits the Milky Way, opened by Leah Adler, a warm kosher gathering place built on hospitality, community, and good food. Today her kids, Nancy, Sue, Anne, and yes, Steven Spielberg, run it. And somehow it still carries that exact same feeling.
I walked in with no idea what I was actually going to be doing, and for once in my life, I did not ask a single follow up question. Growth.
Where It All Started
Before I even touched a pan, the team walked me through the history. This place has been around more than 40 years, and it really was the beginning of kosher restaurants in LA. They showed me a corner of the restaurant set up like a cozy living room, and it is where the whole story lives. The original carpet from the restaurant’s very first location is still down. Leah’s piano is there. So is the couch covered in denim, because she loved denim and wore it before it was cool. Home videos of her play on a loop the entire time.
Just past that corner was a hallway lined wall to wall with movie memorabilia. Poltergeist. Jurassic Park. E.T., the first movie I ever saw in a theater, the one that made me cry like a baby. I stood there a little longer than I meant to, until I remembered I came here to work.
Learning to Make Blintzes
In the kitchen, the chef walked me through cheese blintzes from scratch. Non stick pan, a swirl of batter, paper thin edges. Once the mixture rested, we filled each one and folded it into a tight little square, then pan fried in clarified butter until golden. “Betta with butta,” I told the chef. Dead serious. If I ever launch a line of aprons, that’s going right on the front. He wholeheartedly agreed.
We plated them with what I would call a light dusting of powdered sugar, and what the chef would probably call a blizzard. Sue me, I like it snowy. Sour cream and jam went on the side. These are not just recipes. They are family recipes, food built around generosity, comfort, and bringing people together. You feel that in every single dish that comes out of the kitchen.
Putting on the Apron
I took a turn serving tables too, carrying out plates and double checking every order before it hit the table. My mother did not raise me to be a waitress. I promised her it was just for the day. I asked customers for their favorite Milky Way memories. One woman told me it’s her go to spot for a girls’ lunch, the kind of meal where you leave full but not weighed down. Another said it’s where she and her husband always go for date night. That’s the kind of place this is. Friends and dates, brunch and dinner, all under one roof that has never lost its warmth.
The Feast
Then it was finally my turn to sit, order, and be fed, my favorite part of any shift, if I am being honest. Cheese blintzes, the restaurant’s famous latkes, blackened fish tacos, and the cedar plank salmon (get their recipe here) everyone had told me to save room for (I did not save room, I made room, there is a difference). I squeezed grilled lemon over the fish, exactly the way the chef instructed, and it was everything I wanted it to be. Classic, creamy, rich blintzes with sour cream. Thick, crisp latkes that are clearly a skill to make well. Fish tacos in soft toasted tortillas that did not disappoint for a single second.
If You’re Ever in LA
The Milky Way is at 9108 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035. Menu and hours are at milkywayla.com. If you’re anywhere near Pico, go. Order the blintzes. Order the latkes too, honestly order it all.
What Stayed With Me
I came to make a fun video about an iconic kosher restaurant on Pico. I figured I would cook a little, serve a few tables, eat some great food, and go home. That is exactly what happened. But what I did not expect was how much heart lives inside this place.
What Leah Adler built here almost 50 years ago still exists, not only in the recipes, but in the feeling of the restaurant itself. It is something I feel so deeply: a Jewish table is never just about the food. It is about taking care of people, making room for them, and creating a place they want to come back to. It is about the people and the conversations that happen around that table.
That sentiment, along with the cheesecake, is staying with me for a long time.
Love,
Jamie
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