Howard Rosenthal proud to carry on the Mr. Food tradition
Howard Rosenthal of the Mr. Food Test Kitchen has a long and loving relationship with the culinary arts.
Indeed, the Syracuse, N.Y.-area native, whose syndicated cooking segments appear on local news programs across the country, has been cooking since the age of 6, has a degree as a professional chef and has owned and operated a restaurant, a high-end catering service and an event management company.
Now as the chief operating officer and on-air identity of the Mr. Food brand, he loves what he does and endeavors to spread that passion to others.
“You know, I love food, I love making people smile and appreciate food,” he says. “And I think if you understand the foundation of what makes a great recipe, it’s easier to build upon that. So we try to simplify everything that we do. I mean, we’re known for quick and easy recipes with off-the-shelf ingredients and that’s something that hasn’t wavered from the beginning. I feel very fortunate that I had a very long career with Art.”
Art is Art Ginsburg, who originated the Mr. Food segments in the late 1970s. A butcher, caterer and amateur thespian in the Albany, N.Y., area, Ginsburg parlayed an easygoing manner and an “anybody can do it” philosophy into a full-blown cottage industry, with his cooking vignettes appearing on more than 100 local TV stations.
Rosenthal met Ginsburg through Ginsburg’s daughter, who was a college classmate. During that time, he also worked weekends as a caterer and eventually landed with the Mr. Food family. After college, he opened his own restaurant and catering business, which he sold in the mid-1990s to become a partner with Mr. Food.
Rosenthal and Ginsburg became fast friends and traveled the world together to health expos, fairs and other public appearances. When Ginsburg died of pancreatic cancer in 2012, Rosenthal stepped right in – with no prior television experience.
But he made clear from the outset that he wasn’t Mr. Food but rather “Howard from the Mr. Food Test Kitchen.” And he wasn’t about to attempt Ginsburg’s signature mantra.
“The first time I had to get the ‘Oooh, it’s so good’ out,” Rosenthal recalls, “Art had a way of doing it, it was very sensual in the way that only Art could do it. And when I first did it, I felt kind of creepy doing it, like I might get arrested.”