Somebody Feed Phil kicks off its seventh and biggest season so far on Netflix today, taking the famous food adventurer Phil Rosenthal to a whopping eight locations: Mumbai, Washington D.C., Kyoto, Iceland, Dubai, Orlando, Taipei, and Scotland.
From a delicious detente between Republicans and Democrats on the significance of fusion and bi-partisanship in Washington D.C., to an emotional meal of raw lamb Kibbeh at a Palestinian restaurant in Dubai, the increasingly popular series is a reflection of Rosenthal’s philosophy of life.
“I think the theme of the season, if not the series, is that we are better as a species when we cross-pollinate,” the award-winning producer tells L.A. Weekly. “Washington D.C. was a revelation. I had a bit of an agenda on that one. In addition to exploring the city, I wanted to see if I could get a Republican and a Democrat to sit down together and have lunch with me. It wasn’t easy, but we got Republican congressman Brian Kevin Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to sit down with me at a Cambodian restaurant.”
Through his positivity, warmth and sense of humor, Somebody Feed Phil has developed a dedicated cult following and Rosenthal has gone from next-door neighbor with a travel show to a celebrity with a frenzied following selling out venues across the globe. Fans wait in line for him at book signings, crying and sharing their life stories with him, and he takes the time to listen and interact with each one of them. His Live Nation tour SOMEBODY FEED PHIL: An Evening with Phil Rosenthal will make no less than 15 stops this year, including Thursday, May 9, at the United Theater on Broadway in DTLA as part of the Netflix is a Joke festival. He also plans to open a restaurant in the summer with Nancy Silverton.
Phil Rosenthal, right and wife Monica Horan, far left, in Kyoto. (Courtesy Netflix)
In addition to eating haggis in Scotland, Bedouin barbeque in Dubai and exploring the only thing he hates (yoga), cross-pollination and immigrant cultures are of endless fascination to the globe-trotter.
“The real Orlando is not Walt Disney World, that’s for sure,” he says. “But because Disney World has been in Orlando for over 50 years, they’ve employed tens of thousands of immigrants, who have all set up their own neighborhoods around the city. It’s as wonderful a place to eat as L.A. or New York. There are neighborhoods from all over the world who brought their food with them. There’s the Filipino ice cream shop and crocante Puerto Rican porchetta. Some of the best food in America is there right now.”
A good part of the show’s success is something that Rosenthal tapped into many years ago with his multi-Emmy-award-winning show Everybody Loves Raymond – family. His wife of nearly 35 years, Monica Horan, who played the bubbly Amy MacDougall-Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, appears in half of the new season’s episodes, daughter Lily is in two, and son Ben makes an appearance as well. And as much as Rosenthal will loathe to admit it, he attributes much of the show’s popularity to his brother Richard, who co-produces the culinary travelog.
“I don’t like saying it, but he runs the show,” Rosenthal says. “He makes me jump in the cold water when I don’t want to. He has an understanding at this point of what people want to see me do. I fight it every step of the way. I don’t want to get on that camel, and he says you’re doing it. I don’t want to dive into the freezing water, he says to do it. I say alright and then I’m usually happy that I did it. I’m not happy at the moment, but afterward, I’m glad to cross off something that was of the unknown.”
Somebody Feed Phil in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy Netflix)
And while diversity, tolerance and adventurism may be a strong theme in the Rosenthal household, daughter Lily’s palate is still a work in progress. JUST TRY IT: A Phil and Lil Book comes out via Simon and Schuster on Tuesday, March 5 — a hilarious picture book geared toward young children about a food-loving dad encouraging his picky eater daughter to just try something new.
“She ‘s not as bad as the kid in the book,” he says. “When she was younger she fell in love with foods like caviar, foie gras and truffles. I’m like, you’re three! She’d ask for that if we went out to eat. So now I’m broke and she has an amazing palate. It was either that or just noodles with butter. It took some doing to get her to try it with red sauce. Why was she attracted to the most expensive things on the menu? I have absolutely no idea. She sure didn’t get it from me. You would think having fish eggs is not something a kid is going to be attracted to.
“Even though it’s a kids’ book, there’s a message there for all of us,” he says. “How many of us grown adults don’t want to try not just food but anything out of our comfort zone, like travel or eating something you’ve never tried before. That’s the whole point of my show, to at least get you off the couch. I’m not exactly the brave one, but I’ve become less afraid because I’ve taken those baby steps out of my comfort zone. All of our fear comes from the unknown. You try it and at least it’s not unknown anymore and there’s no reason to be afraid. You may not want to do it again, but you’re not afraid. That’s the secret of life.”
Phil and Lily Rosenthal (Courtesy Netflix)
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