Everybody feeds Phil

Growing up, Phil Rosenthal–TV writer, producer, and creator of the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond– didn’t eat a lot of great food.

His parents, of modest means, didn’t have the time or money to prioritize delicious food for their sons in their New York home. But Helen and Max–both Holocaust survivors originally from Germany–gave Rosenthal all the other sustenance he needed. “All my values–a love of art, culture, education, and sweetness, kindness, and humor–I got from them,” he said.

“I was lucky to be their son,” added Rosenthal, whose parents made frequent cameos on their son’s TV shows, before their passing in 2019 and 2021.

It was only when Rosenthal left for college that he discovered great cuisine. “I hadn’t had flavor before,” he said, “so if you could imagine opening the door and now the movie is in color.”

A lover of food and gastronomy, and a self-described foodie ever since, he is the creator, executive producer, writer, and host of Somebody Feed Phil , a culinary travelogue series on Netflix, in which the vivacious and voracious Rosenthal travels the U.S. and the world to take in local cuisine and culture.

As a complement to the series, this fall he published Somebody Feed Phil The Book (Simon Element), a collection of anecdotes, behind-the-scenes photos, and viewers’ most requested recipes from the show.

Rosenthal has crisscrossed the world in his culinary adventures. In the recently launched sixth season of the show alone, he toured Nashville, Austin, Philadelphia, Chile, and Croatia. In the first season, he dined on hummus and shakshuka in Tel Aviv. The food tour marked Rosenthal’s third trip to Israel, including when he collaborated on an Israeli version of his sitcom.

Long before Rosenthal was eating his way around the globe, he created the iconic sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond . The show, which ran for nine seasons, chronicled the life of a Long Island sports columnist–played by comedian Ray Romano–and his meddlesome parents and brother. Rosenthal’s real-life wife of 30 years, Monica Horan, played a principal cast member on the sitcom. She and Rosenthal have two grown children, a daughter and a son.

While Somebody Feed Phil may seem like a big departure from the sitcom, it was, in fact, an experience on Raymond that sparked his idea for Rosenthal’s current show. On a trip to Italy with Romano, Rosenthal saw his friend and TV star transform from homebody to travel enthusiast. Their visit inspired an episode of the sitcom–and later Rosenthal’s passion for exposing others to new locales, cultures, and cuisines–and eventually the food series.

I chatted on the phone with Rosenthal earlier this fall, fresh off a stop on his book tour to the Windy City, which has been featured on his show.

Q: Are you a fan of Chicago?

A. Yes, I think it’s the most architecturally beautiful city in America. When I go to other cities, they’re just building willy-nilly with no regard for aesthetics at all. The personality of a city is the architecture.

Ok, tough question: Do you have a favorite Chicago restaurant?

Oh yes, it’s called Monteverde. (Rosenthal featured Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio, a popular Italian restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, in Somebody Feed Phil. )

Your parents seemed to have a joie de vivre, despite living through the Holocaust. Where did their resiliency come from?

I think that it’s a choice. There are some people who you would never blame for being embittered for the rest of their lives, but [my parents] made a choice: ‘We’re lucky to be alive, let’s make the most of it.’

Everybody Loves Raymond portrayed an Italian Catholic family, based on Romano’s real-life family–but the show has a Jewish sensibility. Did your own Jewish family members make their way into some plotlines?

Of course, because what I didn’t know about Ray’s actual family, I filled in with my family. A lot of the stuff that happened on the show happened in my house and with my parents. That’s how TV is–they always used to say, ‘Write Yiddish, cast British.’ Jews and Italians [aren’t that] different. That’s the point of Somebody Feed Phil –we have more similarities than differences.

Why did you choose to make the food series rather than another comedy?

I thought I would do another sitcom, but the business changed so drastically in the nine years we were doing Raymond that my kind of sensibility wasn’t welcome, or I don’t know what it was. They kept coming to me with [show concepts] saying they want ‘hip and edgy,’ and I said, ‘You got the right guy-I’m Mr. Hip and Edgy.’ After several years of flouncing around, mystified why I couldn’t get another sitcom going, I said ‘Ok, how about this food and travel thing that’s in the back of mind.’

What has been your favorite locale featured on the show? Or is it like picking your favorite child?

It is like that, but I do have an answer. It’s Italy–maybe because that’s where it all started for me. Everywhere you look is beautiful, every bite of food is delicious, and everyone is hugging and kissing you, so what’s not to like?

Six seasons in–what is your biggest takeaway from traveling the globe?

Most people around the world are so much better than their governments.