Spielberg’s Mom and The Milky Way

By Nicola Pittam

He’s the biggest director in the world and the mastermind such box office hits as ET, Jurassic Park, Jaws and Indiana Jones. But while Steven Spielberg makes movies that pull in hundreds of millions of dollars, his mum still runs the tiny restaurant she began 25 years ago.

Petite Leah Adler, who has just turned 82, could easily have retired years ago and been looked after by her famous son, who is reportedly worth more than $2 billion. But instead she chooses to work up to eight hours a day, seven days a week, greeting customers at her Los Angeles eatery The Milky Way.

The diner has proved such a success that even Spielberg has to put in his daily order for a Tuna Stuffer, which is pita bread stuffed with tuna salad, early to make sure he’s not left out!

Leah said: “Steven loves the food we serve here – whenever he is in town shooting a film I always have to send him over a tuna sandwich to the set. That’s his favorite dish off the menu and he always gets his order in early. But when he’s not shooting, he comes into the restaurant and then he order the cabbage rolls which he also loves. I’m so proud of him, I never dreamed he would be where he is today. I’m still toiling away here and he’s the most famous director in the world.”

“Seriously, I love doing this. I don’t think I could ever give it up – it keeps me young! I’ve just turned 82 but I feel 30 years younger and I know that running this place is what keeps me on my toes.”

Customers entering The Milky Way are immediately struck by the homeliness of the restaurant as Leah is on hand to meet and greet them. But soon their eyes turn the walls which are adorned with mementos of her famous son.

There are movie posters from most of his films, a clapperboard from Jaws and, of course, photos of Spielberg himself, including one with him and Leah at the Academy Awards when he won for Schindler’s List.

And on one counter there are even photos of Leah with Kirk Douglas and even Bill Clinton. Former concert pianist Leah proudly shows diners the pictures and says: “That’s my son, isn’t he wonderful? I don’t know where he got his creativity from! Well maybe he gets a little of it from me!”

“He was always making movies when he was a kid. I think he did his first one when he was eight. Of course then we never had any idea that he would go on to become where he is today. Then he would just spend all day filming the family and making up these wonderful little tales. He has a wonderful imagination and I love all his movies, they are so whimsical and extraordinary. But my favorite must be Schindler’s List. It is such a powerful film and close to all our hearts.”

With Spielberg on his way to success after paving the way for summer blockbusters with his hit movie Jaws in 1975, Leah decided it was time for her own: ‘Action.’

Leah, who has split from Spielberg’s dad and remarried Bernie Adler, decided she wanted to start her own business because she couldn’t find anywhere decent to eat. She wanted somewhere she could get fabulous home style food but without any meat included.

So after searching through Los Angeles and hitting a dead end she decided to open the Milky Way in 1979, the same year that Spielberg hit cinema screens with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Leah came up with the name Milky Way, not after one of her son’s fantasy sci-fi movies like Close Encounters or ET but because the menu is kosher and made up of dairy-based dishes.

Leah explained: “The reason I called the restaurant The Milky Way has nothing to do with Steven’s science fiction type movies like Close Encounters or ET! The reason is that we only serve dairy products – there is no meat on the menu at all. We have some fish like salmon or snapper but that’s it. However, there is a lot of cheese and egg based dishes as well as vegetarian dishes like eggplant parmesan and spinach crepes.”

Leah has three full time chefs that prepare the meals, which include seven appetizers, six entrees, five specials, five pizzas, five different sandwiches, six light dishes, salads, soups and five deserts.

The petite owner admits she is not allowed in her own kitchen to cook after being barred by the chefs. But does decide what dishes go on the menu which has hardly changed over the years.

She added: “”I have three chefs and they do all the cooking – I’m not allowed in the kitchen! Besides I have far more fun meeting and greeting people as they arrive for lunch of dinner. I love talking to everyone and getting to know them, no matter if they’re famous or just ordinary people.”

“We have people coming in who have been coming here for 20-odd years and often they want to chat as much as they want to eat! I do put the menu together but again I also have people who advise me  – this is a business not just a place where I can hang out. I think the reason it has lasted so long is that I don’t put my favorite dishes on the menu or do the cooking!”

“I’m there’s lots of things that I and Steven like but no-one else would, so early on I realized I had to make the menu varied and not just thing I wanted to eat. Also the menu has not changed that much over the years, I’m a big believer in that once you find something you like, you should stick with it.”

“Occasionally I’ll update the menu and I listen to my customers about what they like but why change a winning formula? But even so I love all the dishes – my favorite is the dreamy cheesecake which is so light I could eat it day after day!”

Leah’s daughter and Spielberg’s sister Sue added: “Mum just loves running this place – we can’t tear her away from it. She doesn’t have to be in here every day but she really enjoys it and the customers all love her. She spends most of her time going from table to table chatting to everyone and making sure they’re having a good time.”

“If the customers are happy then so is she. No-one would ever guess that she is 82, the way she runs around here.”

And Leah says she has no plans to retire any time soon, adding: “I couldn’t ever imagine retiring, I love this too much. Besides what would Steven do without his daily sandwich to keep him going?”

Some examples of the dishes available on the Milky Way menu:

“APPETEASERS”

Freshest Norwegian Smoked Salmon with the fixins

Steamed Veggie Platter with a creamette dressing

Tangy Guacamole Dip with fresh tortilla chips

THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

Marinated Fish & Advocado: Tender fish filled with capers, Chinese peas, artichoke hearts and avocado in a tangy dressing

Spinach Seafood Fettuccine: Pasta sautéed in olive oil with smoked salmon, spinach and plum tomatoes

Oriental Stir Fry: Snowpeas and fresh veggies sauteed in a savoury Oriental dressing on a bed of rice or angel hair pasta

LUNCHEON ENTREES

Salmon Roulades: Baked slices of fresh Norwegian salmon layered with cream cheese and spinach pate. Served with toasted pine nuts and sauce béarnaise.

Cabbage Rolls: A classic. Poached cabbage leaves filled with our secret blend of fresh vegetables, rice and walnut pate. Baked with sauerkraut in tomato and served with potato pancakes and sour cream

Eggplant Parmesan: Delicately sautéed eggplant smothered in a zesty marinara sauce and baked with layers of mozzarella. Accompanied by a fresh green salad and garlic bread.

MILKY WAY SPECIALTIES

Spinach Crepes: A tasty combination of cream spinach accented by friend onions and wrapped in two golden crepes. Topped with melted cheese and served with garlic.

Cajun Blackened Snapper: Red snapper rolled in lively Cajun spices and blackened in a cast iron skillet. Served with rice.

Cheese Blintzes: What would a dairy restaurant be without blintzes? Ours are yummy. Served with sour cream and strawberry preserve.

BETWEEN THE SLICES

Tuna Stuffer: Pita bread stuffed with tasty tuna salad, lettuce and tomatoes.

Seafood Tacos: Two corn tortillas filled with succulent blackened fish, shredded cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes. Topped with tangy salsa and sour cream.

Hot Mushroom Sandwich: Delicate mushroom pate topped with melted Swiss cheese, avocado and sliced tomato. Served on toast.

DELIGHTFUL DESSERTS

* Dreamy Cheesecake
* Fresh Fruit Stir Fry
* Luscious Carrot Cake
* Devilishly Rich Chocolate Mousse Pie
* Tangy Lemon Tart

Nicola Pittam is a British journalist who has worked for Splash News in Los Angeles for four years. She reports daily on the latest from Tinsel Town for the British newspapers

Hotel Home

Hotel Home – Peter Greenberg’s Unique Odyssey
By Nicola Pittam

Traveler Peter Greenberg has transformed his house into a real holiday home. Peter was so impressed with his stay in hotels around the world, that he immediately turned to them when he wanted to decorate his home.

Now the travel writer has decked out his Los Angeles house with  furnishings from 47 different hotels. From the wooden floor and kitchen appliances through to his bed and toilet, all the items can be found in a number of famous hotels. He has even gone as far as modeling his swimming pool on one at a tropical paradise hotel.

Peter, who lives in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, said: “My home really is decorated from 47 hotels from around the world. Everything  here from the wooden floor down to the door locks has been bought from a hotel somewhere. Each furnishing is something that I fell in love with while I was staying at the hotel. I just wanted to recreate that feeling in my home and after a lot of phone calls, I did it.”

But is doesn’t come cheap to keep your holiday memories with you all the time – so far Peter has spent close to $200,000 decorating his house. The most expensive single item, apart from the wooden floor from Sweden, is the bathroom window.

Peter first spotted the window at the Princeville Resort on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. The window looks like any ordinary window at first but at the push of a button it instantly becomes frosted so people cannot see through it.

Peter, who has been a travel writer for 20 years, has now installed one of the windows next to his bathtub, which came from the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong.

He added: “I was fascinated with the window the moment I saw it in the hotel. I had great fun playing with it. I would go into the toilet and just stand there until someone came in and looked at me oddly. As soon as they did that, I would press the button and the window would get frosted. I’m still amazed I never broke the thing, because I took great delight from that moment on in constantly running to the bathroom.

“The window was tricky to get because the hotel at first had no record of where they got it. But after two months of tracing, we found the company and got one.”

Another quirky item in Peter’s bathroom is a toilet from the Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo. It is the only toilet Peter has ever seen that comes with an owner’s manual to operate the heater, bidet and fan.

But one of the cheapest pieces is also in Peter’s bathroom and comes from the Savoy Hotel in London. The 15 inch diameter showerheads looks impressive but cost him just $200.

Peter added: “I just had to have the shower head. I could never forget the feeling of standing under the shower at the Savoy. It is the reason I stay there when I travel to London, it was one luxury I could not do without!”

But Peter came up with the idea of decorating his home from hotels purely by accident. His original home in Sherman Oaks, a suburb of Los Angeles, had been destroyed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The house had to be razed to the ground and Peter spent more than two years fighting with the insurance company before he could start rebuilding.

He brought in architect Garth Sheriff who asked him what style he would like the house. Peter started listing a number of items that had caught his eye over the years during his world-wide travels.

Garth was making detailed notes but after 20 minutes stopped Peter telling him: “You’ve given me a list of all your favorite hotels furnishings.” And Peter quickly had the brainwave of calling round the hotels to see if the items he loved were available.

He quickly hit the phones and found out that in most cases the hotels were happy to sell him the things he wanted. And if they didn’t sell it themselves, they soon put him onto the manufacturers.

Peter said: “It was time to my house rebuild from scratch. When Garth first met me with contractor Matt Matheson, nothing was left of my house except a huge dirt pit. They both sat me down and told me to make a list of what I wanted in the new house and to decide what style I wanted.

“I had no clear idea but Garth said: ‘Ok just go room-by-room and give me a wish list of what you’d like in each of them’. So I went from room to room telling Garth what I wanted but ten minutes later he interrupted me. He laughed as he showed me that what I had given them were about 47 separate, fabulous, individually great hotel experiences I had had around the world.”

“In the bathroom, if I could just get the showerhead from the Savoy hotel in London, the bathtub from the Peninsula in Hong Kong. I had carried on with the tiles from the Four Seasons in Hawaii and I saw this great sink at Caesars Palace, and then there was this incredible toilet from the Park Hyatt in Tokyo.”

Peter’s list went on for four pages and he soon realized that he wanted to live like he worked. With his schedule as travel correspondent for NBC, Peter traveled all over the world to hundreds of destinations. And he finally realized that not only did he stay in the hotels that he had written on the list but had had great experiences at them.

“With my travel schedule, I had not only stayed in all the hotels I mentioned, but had experienced that showerhead at the Savoy in London, and had been intrigued by the unusual toilet at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo. In fact, it was arguable that I spend more time in hotels than I do at home, so I thought wouldn’t it be logical to want to incorporate the best hotel creature comforts in my house?”

As soon as Peter finished his list he started hitting the telephones and calling every hotel. He asked if he could buy the king-size bed from the Four Seasons in New York and the pillows from the Athenium in London. Peter also wanted to get made from the same wood used by the Regent Hotel in Bangkok and some lights from the Park Hyatt in Sydney.

Finally after many phone calls to hotels and manufacturers, Peter had his complete home. He said: “I hit the phones and started calling the hotels in the United States and around the world where I had those great experiences. Within three weeks, I had made the decision – to build my house around the great hotel experiences of the world.”

After furnishing the bedroom and bathroom, Peter decided he didn’t want to stop there. Soon he had the wooden flooring from the presidential suite at the Sheraton in Stockholm and the granite tiles he had seen from the Hyatt in Jakarta. The Regent in Bangkok put him in touch with their furniture maker, Peter Joghrat, who has his own workshop and showroom directly behind the hotel.

Peter loved the wood from the hotel so much, he flew architect Garth to the hotel to talk to Joghrat. He then had several items made including doors, cabinets and bookcases.

Peter then moved on to the detail work like the lights, looks and the kitchen. He bought lamps and bathroom sinks from the Europa Regina in Venice and for his kitchen appliances he went to one of his favorite hotels, the Mark in New York. Peter said: “I also wanted the appliances from the Mark Hotel which were Viking Stoves and Sub Zero refrigerators.

“For the sinks and the bathtubs, I went to the folks at Kohler, in Wisconsin, then stopped by the factory in Madison, to watch them make my refrigerator at the sub-zero plant. I even flew the architect out to Bangkok because I loved the furniture so much at the Regent Hotel. And not only did I get the built in counter tops and cabinets but also the doors and window moldings.”

Peter has also bought table lamps from the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, a dresser from the Dorchester in London, the master closet from the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, a huge clock from the Hilton Hotel in Akron, Ohio and a Karastan Carpet from the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills where they filmed the Julia Roberts movie Pretty Woman.

He also has an antique phone from a different hotel from such countries as Albania, Denmark, Argentina, France, and Greece, twenty in total.

But Peter didn’t keep the hotel designs to inside the house, he even got his swimming pool from a hotel. He said: “Even my pool comes from a hotel. I copied the design from the Westin Hotel in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. And what distinguishes this pool is not just the structural design, but the lighting and engineering. At night, a tube of fiber optics ringing the underside of the pool coping produces a seductive, subdued light that also slowly changes colors.

Now six years after his first home was destroyed, Peter has his dream home featuring all his favorite comforts. But, as he explains, anyone could furnish their homes with items they see in hotels.

Peter said: “This idea is totally accessible to anyone staying at any hotel. For example, the Four Seasons in New York sells a few hundred of their beds a year to guests. The Savoy is doing a brisk business in showerheads while the The W hotel chain sells its ‘heavenly bed’. Literally dozens of hotels throughout the world place their logo on ashtrays or bathrobes but it is essentially meaningless. But if a guest likes their armoire, sink or even the toilet, what better advertisement for the hotel than for that item to be installed in the guest’s own house!”

Here is a list of some of the furnishings that Peter Greenberg has bought from hotels to furnish his home.

KITCHEN

Lights – Europe Regina Hotel in Venice

Wooden floor – Sheraton Hotel in Sweden

Appliances – Mark Hotel in New York

Granite tiles – Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta

Built in wooden counters and cabinets – Regent Hotel in Bangkok

SMALL BATHROOM

Lights and sink – Europa Regina Hotel in Venice

BACK OFFICE

Wooden book cases and cabinets – Regent Hotel in Bangkok

LIVING ROOM

Granite tiles – Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta

Door locks – St Regis Hotel in New York

Chairs – Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles

Lights – Park Hyatt Hotel in Sydney

High backed chair – Manila Hotel in the Philippines

OFFICE

Clock – Hilton Hotel in Akron, Ohio

Key Cabinet/dresser – Dorchester Hotel in London

Phone system – Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas (although antique phones in other rooms from various hotels)

BEDROOM

King size bed – Four Seasons Hotel in New York

Bedding – Shutters Hotel in Los Angeles

Pillows – Athenium Hotel in London

Lamp – Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles

Slate – Four Seasons Hotel in Mauii, Hawaii

Carpet – Greenbriar Hotel in Virginia

Master closet – Oriental Hotel in Bangkok

Coat hangers – Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong

BATHROOM

Sink – Europa Regina Hotel in Venice

Frosted window – Principal Hotel in Kauai, Hawaii

Bathtub – Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong

Shower head – Savoy Hotel in London

Toilet – Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo

GARDENS

Swimming pool – Westin Hotel in St John’s, Virgin Islands

Photography by Leigh Green of Splash News.
Writer Nicola Pittam is a British journalist who has worked for Splash News in Los Angeles for four years. She reports daily on the latest from Tinsel Town for the British newspapers

Nature’s Healer: The Sun

By Robert M. Oliva, CSW

The sun has always been seen as the source of life and healing. We must not forget the many benefits the sun bestows on us. It is nature’s healer.

Sunlight

Throughout history there has been no better and more common symbol of happiness and well being than the sun. The ancient Egyptians, the Aztecs, Romans and Greeks all worshipped the sun and thought of it as the source of life and health. Regardless of the historical time that comes to mind, you will find people cheered and uplifted by the life-giving rays of the sun.

Whether it was in the form of the god Helios or establishing Sun-day as the first day of the week, the sun always has played an important role in people’s lives.

The great Greek physician Hippocrates wrote extensively about the sun’s healing powers. Herodotus, the father of Heliotherapy, made frequent statements about the healing properties of the sun in his medical practice. In our own time, we see a reflection of these ancient sentiments in songs, poems and movies. And who of us could deny the feeling we have when the sun breaks through the darkened clouds: our mood lifts; our eyes turn upward; our energy and zest for life returns.

Although there have been many serious medical warnings about overexposure to the sun in recent years, we must not neglect the positive role sunlight plays in our mental and physical health. There is good news coming from scientific research telling us why we look and feel better from the sun.

The Blues

Sunlight is an important part of our daily lives. Ever notice how much time is spent at the office worrying about who gets the office with the window. And what about all that energy you feel when spring and summer come around. Everyone seems to be outdoors, planning hikes, barbecues and pool parties. You name it and it’s happening.

Tom Wehr, M.D., a research psychiatrist at the National Institutes of Health, is an expert in mood disorders and feels that our elevation in mood during the spring and summer can be directly linked to the amount of sunlight we are exposed to. Researchers have found the exposure to natural light increases the production of serotonin, a chemical that stimulates the brain’s pleasure center, thereby perking up your mood while warding off anxiety and depression.

In contrast, look at what happens to people in the long winter months, especially those living in the Northeast and Northwest. Over 11 million people suffer from what is called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD, and another 25 million suffer from a milder form of “winter blues.”

The symptoms of SAD and the “winter blues” can include fatigue, craving carbohydrates, irritability, sleeping more and a change of personality from your summer self to your winter self. It’s not exactly known what causes SAD, but according to health writer Francis FitzGerald, “SAD occurs year after year during a specific season,  usually the winter, and vanishes when spring ushers in longer days and more sunshine.”

Medical Researchers think that our depressed moods during the winter may be the result of a chemical imbalance between serotonin and melatonin. With too little sunlight, melatonin makes us drowsy, and disrupts our internal clock.

Our Bodies

Besides just making us feel better and more energetic, exposure to sunlight plays an important role in helping us create vitamin D in our bodies. What makes this so important? Vitamin D has been shown to help prevent and treat serious medical conditions, including: breast cancer, osteoporosis, prostate cancer, psoriasis, acne, etc.

Though many people aren’t aware of it, most of our physiological requirements for vitamin D are provided for by casual exposure to sunlight. It is easy to see how important sunlight is for our physical and mental health.

Breast Cancer

Over 180,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. It is a major concern for women of all ages. But there is hope. According to Judy Gaillard and Donald Smith of Sun Wellness magazine, a study by researcher Ester M. John at the Northern California Cancer Center, entitled “Vitamin D and Breast Cancer Risk”, casual exposure to sunlight, along with other factors, can help reduce the risk of breast cancer.

The scientists concluded “high exposure to sunlight was associated with a 25 percent to 65 percent reduction in breast cancer risk among women whose longest residence was in a state of high solar radiation.” A 25 percent reduction in the number of breast cancer cases would mean approximately 44,000 women would not have to suffer the trauma of this disease. Since vitamin D and sunlight exposure are life-style behaviors, this is good news for women wishing to reduce their risk of breast cancer.

Osteoporosis

Sometimes called “the silent disease,” osteoporosis is the loss of bone mass due to the malabsorption of calcium into the bone. Bone fragility results in increased risk of bone fracture in many parts of the body, including the hips, spinal vertebrae, and ribs. According to James F. Balch, M.D., author of Prescription for Nutritional Healing, fully “half of all women between the ages 45 and 75 show signs of osteoporosis.” Although osteoporosis is mostly an issue for post-menopausal women, both sexes and all age groups suffer from this disease.

“If vitamin D is absent, calcium, which is vital for normal bone growth and development, will not be absorbed from the intestinal tract and the bones become deformed,” says Zane Kime, M.D., M.S. in his book Sunlight. One of the best ways to get adequate vitamin D is moderate exposure to the sun. The World Health Organization Task-Force for Osteoporosis recently recommended sunlight as a part of the treatment and management of this disease.

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer in men over age 75. In a recent study by Hanchette and Schwartz of the University of North Carolina and published in the journal Cancer, the researchers a 20 to 40 percent lower incidence of prostate cancer among men in southern climates. Because of findings like this some researcher are suggesting that vitamin D may be an effective preventive agent against prostate cancer. The importance of sunlight cannot be underestimated in maintaining prostate health. If the incidence of prostate cancer is reduced by 20 percent nearly 37,000 men would not suffer the anguish of this disease.

Athletic Achievement

Most of us believe that sunlight gives us extra pep and energy. During the summer months, we tend to sleep less, play more and just have more get up and go. To back up this idea scientifically, Bylle Dopps and Scott Hoover of Sun Wellness magazine looked at research from the Sports Medicine Department of the German National Olympic Team Training Center. The results of their research showed that routine exposure to the sun optimized performance capabilities and reduced the incidence and recovery time of athletes from minor injuries.

If simple sunlight can help world class athletes recover from the stresses of training and competition, it seems reasonable to conclude that we can all benefit from the stress busting affects of sunlight.

Conclusion

Recent scientific studies have demonstrated what humans have suspected all along: natural sunlight promotes feelings of well-being, improves immune function, promotes natural healing and optimizes athletic performance. Don’t neglect these positive benefits of sunlight. Include moderate exposure to the sun in your overall health regimen.

To learn more about health and healing go to my HealingAction web site at http://healingaction.com.

Robert M. Oliva, CSW is a certified New York State social worker with over twenty years experience in psychotherapy, stress management and wellness. Bob is an internationally known health writer and is the founder and editor-in-chief of the health site HealingAction.com. Presently, Bob is a doctoral candidate in naturopathy at Clayton College. He lives with his wife Mary and his two sons David and Chris on Long Island, New York. Bob also spends a few hours a week playing with his grandson Jonathan.