SOMETHING ABOUT PHIL...AND EUROPE!
The host of a hit Netflix TV series intends to keep traveling the globe in search of good food and better company. But there's a reason why he'll keep returning to Europe...
By Scott Murphy
Until a few years ago, Phil Rosenthal had never been to Ireland or tasted a freshly poured pint of Guinness. But when the 65-year-old host of the hit Netflix TV series "Somebody Feed Phil" suddenly found himself sitting at the cosy bar inside the famed pub Grogan’s on William Street in the heart of Dublin, he ordered a half pint of the dark brew and one of their well known toasted ham and cheese sandwiches. He marvelled at the toaster that browned the bread while the fillings were actually inside it. "It just sounds like something you could want," he exclaimed. "A pint and a toastie!"
Later, he would meet Sandy Wyer, who like Phil, was born and raised in Queens, New York. After moving to Ireland, she and her husband John would open several restaurants across the country, including the upscale wine bar Forest and Marcy on Leeson Street in Dublin. While there, Phil was treated to fermented potato bread with bacon and cabbage relish, smoked bacon mousse, spiced crab turbot and a Scotch egg, all made by acclaimed Michelin-awarded chef Ciaran Sweeney. "It's kind of like an Egg McMuffin," Rosenthal quipped about the latter. "This is a testament to travelling."
Phil Rosenthal's goal was always to make people laugh, but after trying to make it as an actor on both Broadway and short lived TV series, he found his true niche as a writer/producer on the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond", which starred Ray Romano and ran for over 200 episodes across nine seasons. The series was very good to Rosenthal. It enabled him to buy the extensive Los Angeles house he rambles around while talking to me on Zoom ("just five minutes from Koreatown," he says joyously). Due to global syndication and acclaim (it was named one of the top TV series of all-time according to a Hollywood Reporter poll), it also afforded Phil the time and means to come up with the concept of his next series, one where he would learn about cultures via food. "I sold the show with one line," he says. "I said I'm exactly like Anthony Bourdain if he was afraid of everything. If there's any entertainment value, it's in that guy – meaning me – trying to take baby steps out of his comfort zone. But then sure enough, when I do, that's where the magic is."
(Phil on the set of “Everybody Loves Raymond”, the hit U.S. TV sitcom that ran for nine seasons and 210 episodes).
Rosenthal even hired many of the crew members from Bourdain's former production company Zero Point Zero. The 10 member crew, including his brother, selected cities to visit based on a variety of factors, like weather, cuisine, and accessibility. "I thought I would start with Earth's greatest hits," he says. "But I haven't even scratched the surface of the earth in the PBS season plus several seasons of the Netflix show. Even after the first episode of the first show, I thought, 'Wow, how lucky am I just to get to do this!’”
Over the course of the series' so far, Phil has created shows around visits to London, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Croatia, Venice and Dublin, and is quite cognizant of the fact that he's only just had glimpses of Europe. Still, the places he has visited have left quite an impression on him. He goes misty-eyed recalling the taste of gelato he had in, of all places, Croatia. And beyond food, he recalls an overall quality-of-life experience in Copenhagen and other Nordic countries where the value system seems to be more humane than many so-called "first world" countries. "There's a tax rate of 50 percent there so you don't see a Bentley on the street, but you also don't see a homeless person either," he says. "You see design for living, not for profit. It's beautiful, useful, and sustainable. They're thinking long-term for their kids. We all have the ability to do this if we want, so why don't we?"”
But if you ask him where his favorite place is – not just in Europe – but on the planet – one country has his heart. That's Italy. His love affair may have started in 1983, when he and some friends took an overnight train from Paris to Florence. Once there, he was amazed by the beauty of the architecture, the land, the food and the overall vibe. "It all comes together for me there," he says. "There's a feeling when I go there of being awestruck, and I could live there, or maybe in another life. I don't know why I feel this way, but I'm not alone in loving Italy. Everyone is gorgeous, the food is great and what's not to like?"
Rosenthal is mum on what world cities he will visit during the 8th and latest season of "Somebody Feed Phil" (though the series trailer spells them out), but he is reassuring when he says there will be surprises. He claims to be continuously amazed – not just by the food he eats – but by what he encounters. In his mind, he is back in Dublin, where he witnessed a group of older men joyfully jumping into the freezing River Liffey as a way of maintaining their health. At the time, Phil wanted nothing more than to be sipping a cup of hot chocolate someplace warm.
Upon reflection, he realized he was missing out on a true life experience. That cold rainy night, Phil convinced his crew to return to the river, where they filmed him jumping in. "It was such a shock to my system that I screamed," he says. "And even today, I turn the last 30 seconds of my shower to cold water as a sense memory and I'm right back there. That's an example of taking a big swing and not only surviving it but getting something out of it that you can apply to the rest of your life."