Monday, June 4, 2012

R.I.P. - Milton Weiss 1918-2012

I was sorry to read about the passing of Milton Weiss, restaurateur and son of the venerable Mama Weiss. I recently read his 2001 book titled, Star Grazing in Hollywood: A Reminiscence of a Beverly Hills Restaurateur about the restaurants he owned, and growing up in Mama Weiss' restaurants. This entertaining read can be found at the Beverly Hills Library (call number 647.9579 Weiss). Mama Weiss' Csarda restaurant was the restaurant celebrities came to for the food,the atmosphere and Mama Weiss' hospitality. One guidebook, Key, dated August 31-September 7, 1950, praises 'Mama's superb borscht, blintzes and cherry strudel' and notes that gypsy music 'adds to the pleasure of dinner by candlelight.' Mama Weiss charmed television audiences in the 1950s with a cooking show on KHJ before branching out with her own product line. A coupon in the Los Angeles Times from March 19, 1959 touts 6 cents off Mama Weiss' roquefort dressing, bleu cheese dressing or horseradish sauce, available 'at food stores everywhere'.