After ‘Raymond,’ Rosenthal finds life is worldwide feast
“My people! My people!”
Phil Rosenthal walks into the Howlin’ Ray’s hot chicken restaurant in LA’s Chinatown pumping his arms above his head, shouting a phrase likely only uttered by leaders of small countries and the “Today” show’s Al Roker. It’s the middle of the lunch rush on a recent afternoon, and the crew behind the counter returns his greeting with a couple of “woot woots!”
Rosenthal takes a seat at the crowded counter, and almost squeals when a cook hands him his fried chicken sandwich. He cradles the sandwich and looks at it as if he has actual feelings for the layers of fried chicken, slaw, pickles and squishy bun. He tilts his head, takes a bite like he means it and comes away with bits of orange comeback sauce in his beard. Then he aggressively licks his fingers. “I think it’s in the running for best sandwich I’ve ever had.”
It’s a few weeks before the second season of Rosenthal’s show “Somebody Feed Phil” began streaming July 6 on Netflix, and he’s eating at his favorite Los Angeles restaurants before he leaves town to promote the show. Howlin’ Ray’s, the hot chicken specialist known as much for long lines as it is for fried chicken, is at the top of that list.
If you haven’t seen the show, the premise is this: A permanently wide-eyed Rosenthal travels to a far-off destination — Thailand, Israel, Mexico City. He meets locals, eats food, learns about the culture then offers viewers a sort of “if I can do it, you can do it” take on the destination.
“I’m not the bravest guy in the world, but I think that most people are like me,” says Rosenthal. “If people see a putz like me out there, they say, ‘Oh if he can go, I can go.’ ”
At a recent dinner, Rosenthal’s friend, actor Patton Oswalt, described him as the “Mister Rogers of food shows.”
To say that the 58-yearold guy who created and wrote the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond” is now a food travel show host is more than a little unexpected. But at heart, Rosenthal is a foodie in the purest sense of the word. He says things like “goose might be the world’s best meat” and “the fat is the delicious part.”
On his first travel food show, “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having,” which aired on PBS in 2015, he traveled to what he likes to call “Earth’s greatest hits”: Tokyo, Paris, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Italy and Hong Kong. When the PBS show wasn’t picked up for a second season, Rosenthal signed a deal with Netflix for 12 episodes of “Somebody Feed Phil.” Carving out his own space in the streaming service’s growing stable of food shows, Rosenthal is fond of telling journalists, “I’m exactly like Anthony Bourdain if he was afraid of everything.”
“I watch Bourdain, and I say, ‘He’s amazing, I’m never going to do that,’ ” Rosenthal says of the late chef-turned-author-andTV host. “I’m not going to those places, I’m afraid. I’m not getting a chest tattoo by tribesmen in Borneo. He’s a superhero.”
Chris Collins, co-owner of Zero Point Zero, the production company that works with Rosenthal on his show, and the same one that worked with Bourdain on his CNN show “Parts Unknown,” calls Rosenthal a “force of sheer will and kindness.”
“We were drawn to him — in fact, lured in unapologetically — just as his audience is,” Collins said in an email. “His charm and unique brand of humor and curiosity make good TV, great TV.”
Rosenthal thinks of himself as more of a travel and food cheerleader than an expert, but to him, that’s the point. He’s also grateful for the trailblazers in the food world, especially Bourdain, and says he was shocked and saddened by the TV host’s death. “It’s a stunning and tragic loss,” Rosenthal says. “He reinvented an entire genre. I wouldn’t be doing my show without his profound influence, and all of us who travel or eat owe him a great debt.”