Phil Rosenthal Has A Menu Strategy (Reheat)

Wherever Phil Rosenthal goes, he wants to eat — which explains the name of his Netflix show, Somebody Feed Phil. He travels the world with wide eyes, an empty stomach, and a bottomless supply of delight at the people and food he encounters. And before Somebody Feed Phil and his new podcast Naked Lunch, Phil created the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which used food as a key source of tension between the characters.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Dan Pashman?

  My whole extended family and I went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina this past spring. And I gotta say, I came away feeling like, number one, this is a great family destination. Number two, this is a great place to come all year round. The mini golf alone is probably worth, it's like the mini golf capital of the country. They have the most incredible elaborate mini golf courses. They also have more than 80 championship, full-size golf courses, plus 60 miles of beautiful coastline, all-season sunshine. Of course, you can relax by the beach or the pool. There's also jet skiing, fishing charters, paddle boarding, and of course, food. Oh, man, did we eat well in Myrtle Beach. From fresh local seafood to craft burgers and craft beers to kebabs on the boardwalk. With more than 2,000 restaurants to choose from, from legendary no-frill seafood shacks

• 0:43Dan Pashman?

  to chef-driven dining, Myrtle Beach has it all. Plus, live entertainment at the beach, there's always something epic going on. So, summer may be winding down, but in Myrtle Beach, you're gonna find the coastal vacation of your dreams all year long. Start planning your ultimate beach vacation at visitmyrtlebeach.com. As we turn to fall and the weather starts to cool down, I think of things like crunching leaves. I think of sharing from the sidelines of a soccer game, walking the dog in the woods. And when I think of doing all those things, I'm usually wearing something from LL Bean. Whether it's my puffer vest, my puffer coat, my scarf, whatever you're doing outside this year, you probably need something from LL Bean, whether it's their boots, their Scotch Plaid flannel, their rugged field coat, or more. Grab the layers and people you love and get outside.

• 1:28Dan Pashman?

  Visit llbean.com to shop the fall collection. LL Bean, be an outsider.

• 1:45Dan Pashman?

  It's Dan here once again, and does anybody not like Phil Rosenthal? What's not to like? He is probably the most beloved person in the entire world of food. And that's well-earned because he's nice and kind and funny, and he really loves to eat. And I saw that in this week's preheat when I hang out with him and have lunch together. We swap menu strategies and dissect the role of food in his hit sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond. Of course, we talk about his hit Netflix show, Somebody Feed Phil, and he also reflects on his relationship with his parents, who were Holocaust survivors who didn't understand their son's love of fine dining. I also wanted to replay this one for you because Phil has a new book out this week. It's called Phil's Favorites. It's a cookbook featuring recipes from family, friends, and renowned chefs around the world. In keeping with Phil's style,

• 2:28Dan Pashman?

  it is a great book for people who love to eat just like Phil. It's all of his personal favorites. I'm sure you're gonna love it. Now, remember, there's an episode of The Sporkful. If you want us to defrost and reheat, let us know. We take requests. Drop me a line at [email protected]. Thanks so much, and enjoy.

• 2:46Dan Pashman?

  I want to be the kind of person who doesn't look at the menu before the meal. There is a certain delight and a ritual to sitting down and getting the menu and kind of entering this world, the world of a restaurant.

• 2:58Speaker 01

  When we do the show, nine times out of 10, I am surprised. We've read in advance, probably months before, what they're famous for. I've promptly forgotten it until I get to the restaurant, and the shock and delight that you see on my face is completely genuine. There's no acting on the show. I am really happy to be there and to be surprised.

• 3:23Speaker 01

  Except when it's bugs.

• 3:30Dan Pashman?

  This is The Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people. You know, a great part about my job is that I get to go out for some pretty good meals. I mean, that's kind of why I got into this line of work, okay? And today, I'm going out for lunch with someone who gets to eat even more nice lunches than I do, Phil Rosenthal. He's the creator of one of the most well-known sitcoms of all time, Everybody Loves Raymond. And these days, he's host of the podcast Naked Lunch and star of the Netflix show Somebody Feed Phil, where he travels the world with wide eyes and an empty stomach, excited about every meal, whether it's cow soy in Thailand, shakshuka in Tel Aviv, or a sausage sandwich in Denmark.

• 4:12Dan Pashman?

  I think Phil and I are kindred spirits. I mean, I'm a radio guy who kind of stumbled into food. I didn't know much about it when I started this podcast, except that I love to eat it. And Phil's a TV guy who cared almost as much about the lunchtime buffet that would arrive on set as he did about the show production itself. We met up at Frenchette, a bistro in Lower Manhattan, a few blocks from the Freedom Tower. First thing we had to do, of course, was order. But for two people who think about food as much as Phil and me, that would not be a simple process.

• 4:40Dan Pashman?

  Phil, do you have a general menu strategy?

• 4:42Speaker 01

  Yes, I do.

• 4:44Dan Pashman?

  Tell me about it.

• 4:45Speaker 01

  What I just ate factors in and what I will be eating.

• 4:51Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 4:51Speaker 01

  So tonight I'm going to Don Angie, which is a fantastic Italian restaurant.

• 4:56Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 4:57Speaker 01

  And their pastas are amazing. So I won't be having, as much as I'd love to have the bucatini with sardines, I won't be having that today.

• 5:05Dan Pashman?

  And you just had eggs in the morning, you said, so you're not gonna have eggs?

• 5:08Speaker 01

  That's the strategy.

• 5:09Dan Pashman?

  Sometimes I like to read through a menu and I'll really try to imagine eating that thing. Is this like sparking joy, sort of?

• 5:17Speaker 01

  And then you're either delighted or disappointed accordingly to how those expectations are met, which just happens to be everything else in life as well.

• 5:29Dan Pashman?

  Right, expectations are so key.

• 5:30Speaker 01

  Expectations are everything.

• 5:32Dan Pashman?

  Yeah. If you're going out to eat, do you ever look at the menu online in advance?

• 5:37Speaker 01

  Once in a while, but most of the time I like to be surprised.

• 5:40Dan Pashman?

  Really? That's interesting. I run into this issue sometimes. Maybe you have some advice for me on this, Phil. I will look at the menu hours or even days before the meal. Cause I am by nature a planner and it's hard for me and I get excited. I don't get to go out to eat as much as I would like. I got young kids.

• 5:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:57Dan Pashman?

  I'm busy. And so when I'm going out to a restaurant I'm excited to eat at, I look forward to it very much.

• 6:03Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 6:03Dan Pashman?

  And I, I can't resist. I want to look at the menu. I want to look forward to the meal.

• 6:07Speaker 01

  You should have a podcast about this.

• 6:10Dan Pashman?

  And I will do that exercise of thinking to myself, what would this taste like? What do I want? And then I kind of make a decision in my head.

• 6:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:17Dan Pashman?

  But then sometimes I get to the restaurant hours or days later and I'm in a different mood.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  Of course you are. Yes. And if you had breakfast, that affected you. And if you, if you know you're having something for dinner, you're probably not gonna get the thing maybe you expected to get when you first looked at it.

• 6:30Dan Pashman?

  Right. So, so what, should I not be looking then? What, what, I mean like, because, because then I feel like I have this issue. My brain and my stomach are like not aligned because I'm expecting that I was going there planning to eat one thing and I was, in my head, I was looking forward to it. Now my stomach is saying, mm, we don't really want fish.

• 6:46Speaker 01

  Dan, lie down. Let me analyze you. I think that... Are you happy generally with your restaurant going experiences?

• 6:56Dan Pashman?

  Generally, yes.

• 6:57Speaker 01

  Okay, then you don't need to change it. But if you do feel unhappy, I would tell you, maybe don't study it so much. So you keep that element of surprise. Go and enjoy it. Listen, don't you hate when the trailer gives away the whole movie now? It ruins the movie.

• 7:12Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 7:13Speaker 01

  I knew that joke already. I saw it in the trailer. Not laughing is hard now in the movie.

• 7:17Dan Pashman?

  That's a good analogy.

• 7:19Speaker 01

  Yeah. What are you getting today?

• 7:21Dan Pashman?

  I mean, I feel like we're in a French restaurant and I don't ever order eggs in a nice restaurant.

• 7:26Speaker 01

  Do it. I would love to see you get that.

• 7:28Dan Pashman?

  There's the brouillard, the soft scrambled eggs with comté cheese and truffles, which like, you know, I'm expensing this meal, so let's have some truffles.

• 7:37Speaker 01

  I think I see how you're leaning. I might do two things from the top section and not get the big entree.

• 7:45Dan Pashman?

  I think that's a pro move, Phil. After all this talk of ordering, see, you're a pro. The appetizers are often better and more interesting than the entrees.

• 7:52Speaker 01

  They have a sardine, and anytime I see sardines on a menu, I go for them because I happen to love them.

• 7:59Dan Pashman?

  Okay.

• 8:00Speaker 01

  So I might do that, and I might get the salad. And I'm happy to share, by the way.

• 8:03Dan Pashman?

  Yeah. Oh, yeah, I'm all for sharing. All right. I think I'm gonna go two appetizers.

• 8:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:09Dan Pashman?

  I'm gonna get the brouillard, the soft scrambled eggs, truffles, and I'll share with you.

• 8:14Speaker 01

  I just need a taste of that.

• 8:15Dan Pashman?

  I'm very intrigued by the bucatini with sardines, green onions, and chilies.

• 8:20Speaker 01

  All right, I'm very happy you're getting that.

• 8:22Dan Pashman?

  Because that just sounds like a great flavor combination.

• 8:24Speaker 01

  You got two things that I would get.

• 8:33Dan Pashman?

  Our server Emily came over to take our order and convinced me I needed one more item to go with my soft scrambled eggs.

• 8:39Speaker 02

  Our house-made baguette might be a vehicle to enjoy it even better.

• 8:43Dan Pashman?

  That was an excellent upsell. I just want to compliment you. As a former waiter myself, that was flawless. I'll take it.

• 8:50Speaker 02

  Selling more of "I'm looking out for you."

• 8:54Speaker 01

  Wow, which is probably the best upsell line I've ever heard. Yeah, that's great.

• 9:00Dan Pashman?

  With our orders in and my psychological issues with menus resolved, Phil and I can relax and chat. As excited as Phil gets nowadays for a meal, as a kid, he was more obsessed with television.

• 9:12Speaker 01

  A little too much. My parents said, "What are you gonna do? Get a job watching television?" And the punchline to that is, when I did get a job in television, I sent them the biggest TV on the market at the time, with a note on it that said, "Ha ha."

• 9:30Dan Pashman?

  Were you also obsessed with food, growing up?

• 9:34Speaker 01

  I was. I didn't realize it at the time. I grew up in a house where food was not valued. Delicious food was not valued, I'll say. Both my parents worked. Neither of them had the time or inclination, patience, or I'm gonna say talent, to make delicious food. We didn't have a lot of money. So cheap was the cuisine of the house. Once or twice that we went out, ever, it was like a revelation to me that you could have food with flavor. And I used to literally, I mean, beg to go to McDonald's, just because it had flavor.

• 10:13Dan Pashman?

  Both Phil's parents were born in Germany and were Holocaust survivors. His father, Max, was able to get out right after Kristallnacht, the night in the lead-up to World War II when Nazis raided Jewish neighborhoods across Germany. Phil's mother, Helen, was in a concentration camp in France. After the war, she lived in Cuba for a bit, before eventually arriving in the US.

• 10:31Speaker 01

  That might have informed the whole Gestalt in the house.

• 10:34Dan Pashman?

  Well, tell me about that.

• 10:35Speaker 01

  Uh...

• 10:38Speaker 01

  It's hard. It's hard. And now, of course, I'm 100% filled with nothing but love and remorse at how I treated them as a child. For instance, when I was 10, I asked for the same stingray bike that all the other kids had for my birthday. And my mother said...

• 11:04Speaker 01

  Do you know what I got when I was 10? Now, when you're a 10-year-old, you don't care what your parents got when they were 10. You don't need the story of how they walked to school in the snow, let alone a Holocaust story.

• 11:17Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 11:18Speaker 01

  So I only resented being the child of these people.

• 11:24Speaker 01

  Which is, of course, extremely selfish and terrible. And I regret now.

• 11:31Dan Pashman?

  And how do you think that their experience affected their attitude towards food?

• 11:38Speaker 01

  It just wasn't important. They actually saw it as an unnecessary indulgence. And when I moved into Manhattan after college, in my twenties, I loved food so much. Like, I had had this epiphany in college where I went to an Italian restaurant, very cheap, with some other freshmen at Hofstra University. And all I could afford was pasta and sauce, marinara sauce. So that's what I got. And I was expecting, talk about expectations, nothing. And it blew the top of my head off. Why is this so delicious? Not only did I never have it at home, there's an ingredient in here, these chopped up white bits of something that I didn't know what they were.

• 12:23Speaker 01

  I asked the kids that I was eating with, "What is this, these little white..." They said, "What, garlic?" I said, "Yes, garlic."

• 12:32Speaker 01

  "I've heard of it, I've never had it."

• 12:36Speaker 01

  And it was the most incredibly delicious single ingredient I ever tasted in my life. And then I went garlic crazy. But it was like, you know, in The Wizard of Oz, where you open the door, and now the movie's in color.

• 12:52Dan Pashman?

  As Phil got older, he sought out brighter and brighter colors. In his twenties, he lived in New York City, trying to make it as an actor. He started eating at some of the fanciest and most expensive restaurants in the city. But not often.

• 13:05Speaker 01

  Well, when my parents found out that once a year, on my birthday, I was saving up to eat at Lutèce, or La Grand Oui, or La Cope Basse, or La Bernadette.

• 13:17Speaker 01

  They thought I was out of my mind. I'm just flushing my money away. What am I doing? And I would try to explain that it's like a vacation. Once a year, for the evening, I'm on the world's best vacation. It's transporting. Years later, when I could afford to bring them, I had to beg, plead, cajole. And I wouldn't stop bothering them until they could experience. And they came with me to Lutet's. And my mother, the whole time, is saying, "Philip, I'm really not interested in this kind of thing." This, I'm not, I'm like, "Isn't this nice?" "Yes, it's very nice. It's lovely."

• 14:02Speaker 01

  I said, "You know, a lot of famous people, that does not interest me." Until she looked over and she said, "Philip, Philip." I said, "What?" "Sixty minutes, sixty minutes." And I look, it's Ed Bradley is sitting at the next table. And she almost dropped it, she loved him. Her food comes, and I'll never forget it. She takes a bite and she goes, "But, well, this is very good." Like her particular dish because of what she chose.

• 14:28Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  Not anyone else's in the restaurant.

• 14:30Dan Pashman?

  Right, she's like, "A lot of this is nonsense, but what I'm eating..."

• 14:33Speaker 01

  But this is very good. And that was the attitude.

• 14:39Dan Pashman?

  But as a young actor, Phil was still mostly finding good meals where he could afford them, based on whatever odd job he had at the time to pay the bills. He worked as the manager of a deli after getting fired from his job as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He fell asleep on a 300-year-old bed that was part of an exhibit. Eventually, Phil gave up acting and switched to writing, which is when his career started to take off. He got work on some big TV shows, which was when food became even more meaningful. He says for the writers, after hours in a windowless room, ordering dinner was the light at the end of the tunnel. But the bosses on those shows didn't always share Phil's food philosophy.

• 15:13Speaker 01

  Well, here's what happened. I was on a hit show. I was writing for someone else. I was on a hit show, I won't say the name of it. But a memo came around in the office. I remember it verbatim.

• 15:26Speaker 01

  On the official show stationery. We noticed some of you are putting milk on your cereal when you come in in the morning. The milk is for coffee. The cereal are for snacks. We do not provide breakfast for you. Please do not put milk on your cereal. And I thought, holy cow. I said, if I'm ever lucky enough to have a show of my own, we're gonna have milk on our cereal.

• 16:01Dan Pashman?

  Coming up after the break, we dig in.

• 16:03Speaker 01

  Thank you so much. Our sardines are here. Oh, that's so pretty. Oh, and the eggs. Oh, my God. It looks absolutely spectacular. Let's taste it, shall we?

• 16:12Dan Pashman?

  Plus, we talk about Phil's legendary lunches on TV sets and how a pivotal food scene on Everybody Loves Raymond inspired him to start the next chapter of his career. Stick around.

• 16:30Speaker 03

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• 16:35Dan Pashman?

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• 17:32Speaker 05

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• 19:06Dan Pashman?

  Welcome back to The Sporkful. I'm Dan Pashman. And in case you missed it, we just announced my 2026 pasta tour of Italy, and spots are open for booking right now. Now, the trip I'm about to go on in just a few weeks, sold out many months in advance, so you want to get on it. You'll start off in Rome, eating with Katy Parla. Then we'll meet up in Puglia. We'll go to Barrio, eat Spaghetti alla Assassina at the Source. We'll meet the Orecchete ladies. And we'll have some surprises. Last time, we got some insanely good focaccia and just ate it outside on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. It was incredible. We stopped in Polignano Amare and had something called Cafe Speciale. It's espresso, cream, lemon zest, and amaretto. Oh, man, that was so good. You never know what's going to happen on these tours. We'll go down to Lecce and cook together.

• 19:50Dan Pashman?

  It's going to be so much fun. You really want to sign up. Head to culinarybackstreets.com/sporkful to reserve your spot today, and I'll see you in Italy. All right, back to my lunch with Phil Rosenthal. We left off, our first course had just arrived. I had the soft scrambled eggs with Camembert cheese and shaved truffles, with a warm crusty baguette on the side. And Phil had his sardines. It was go time.

• 20:17Dan Pashman?

  All right.

• 20:17Speaker 01

  Oh, my friggin', friggin', friggin'. I wanna curse.

• 20:21Dan Pashman?

  You can curse, it's okay.

• 20:22Speaker 01

  Holy shit.

• 20:23Dan Pashman?

  Oh, my god.

• 20:24Speaker 01

  Yes, oh, my god?

• 20:25Dan Pashman?

  These eggs are like the consistency, almost, of melted cheese.

• 20:30Speaker 01

  All right, bring it over here.

• 20:31Dan Pashman?

  Stick your fork in there.

• 20:34Speaker 01

  Mmm, damn.

• 20:36Dan Pashman?

  Good, huh?

• 20:37Speaker 01

  Damn good.

• 20:39Dan Pashman?

  You hear the crap on this bread? Listen.

• 20:45Speaker 01

  Oh, you're zombling with the bread.

• 20:47Dan Pashman?

  I'm sweeping the bread through the egg, just like she recommended.

• 20:49Speaker 01

  I can't believe how luxe this lunch is, damn, already.

• 20:52Dan Pashman?

  This is hardcore, Phil. All right, back to Phil's story. Eventually, he was lucky enough to have a show of his own. A big one. In 1996, when he was in his mid-30s, Phil created and wrote the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. And he made good on his promise that there would be cereal for everyone who worked on the show. That, and a lot more.

• 21:14Speaker 01

  I took that to the extreme. And you can ask anybody, we had the best craft service in town. That's the food for the cast and crew, and writers, and everybody who works there. I would take money from the production budget of the show and put it into food. Because that's how important it was to me. In creating a feeling of goodwill and, beyond that, happiness on the set. People couldn't wait to come to work. What's he flying in now?

• 21:42Dan Pashman?

  Right, you, you-

• 21:42Speaker 01

  From Chicago, or New York.

• 21:44Dan Pashman?

  You had deep-dish pizza from Chicago, or like, Krispy Kreme donuts, back when they were only in the South. You flew them into LA. You had special food trucks coming. You and your relationship to food, especially among Hollywood writers, is legendary.

• 21:58Speaker 01

  Listen, it's nice to be remembered for something.

• 22:03Dan Pashman?

  On Everybody Loves Raymond, food wasn't just a big deal for Phil and the cast and crew behind the scenes. It was also a big part of the storylines. The show follows the everyday life of a middling sports writer named Ray, played by Ray Romano, and his wife, Deborah, played by Patricia Heaton. Ray's parents and brother live across the street and are always dropping by, invited or not. Phil once said in an interview that the show uses food to define the politics of the family. Ray's wife, Deborah, can't cook, but his mother, Marie, the mother, controls the whole family because she's a great cook. She has power over everyone because they would never do anything to piss her up because, God forbid, they don't get to eat that food. And if she gets pissed, she'll take her chocolate cake home. You got it.

• 22:46Dan Pashman?

  Or she, there was the time when Deborah, her daughter-in-law, wanted a meatball recipe. She intentionally gave her the wrong recipe because she didn't want Deborah to be able to make meatballs as well as she could. The pole power struggle was Marie wanting to keep her children her children, and God forbid that Deborah should take her son away. So she could never let that happen. So it's beyond food, right? It's just she's using food as a way to keep control of not just Raymond, but the entire family. And she loved that Deborah was a lousy cook until one day she wasn't. And we did an episode called Deborah Makes Something Good.

• 23:30Dan Pashman?

  This is an all-time classic example of the show in its prime. Deborah makes braciole, a classic dish of beef rolled with fillings and cooked in sauce. Unlike most of what she makes, it's delicious. Ray brings the braciole across the street to his parents' place. His mother looks on suspiciously as his father and brother try it and love it.

• 23:48Speaker 07

  Are you sure your Deborah made this? I know, I know. I couldn't believe it either. She came up with some recipe. Recipe? Yeah, what? Real cooks don't need recipes.

• 24:00Speaker 08

  So Deborah can now cook the missing color in the Raymond rainbow.

• 24:08Speaker 09

  You should ask Deborah how she makes this.

• 24:13Dan Pashman?

  Later, Ray's father Frank appears at Ray and Deborah's door, holding flowers for Deborah. He asks sheepishly if there's any braise left. He begins eating it guiltily, stealthily, as if he's having an affair.

• 24:25Speaker 09

  This is a beautiful thing. Thank you, Frank.

• 24:31Dan Pashman?

  Suddenly, the door opens. It's Marie. She's caught Frank in the act of cheating on her cooking.

• 24:37Speaker 09

  I thought you were taking a bath.

• 24:42Speaker 10

  I was. I finished. Thank you for making it for me. You haven't made a bath to me in 35 years.

• 24:56Speaker 09

  Listen, Marie, this is not what it looks like.

• 24:58Speaker 10

  I'm not talking to you.

• 25:02Dan Pashman?

  In the end, Frank realizes that Marie is by far still the best cook in the family. They make up.

• 25:07Speaker 10

  And Frank?

• 25:08Speaker 09

  Yes?

• 25:09Speaker 10

  We'll never speak of this again.

• 25:14Dan Pashman?

  Why braise?

• 25:15Speaker 01

  Difficult. Wouldn't think that a novice chef, or even a bad chef, could even make it, let alone make it well. It had to be something that would blow everyone away in the family. Especially this Italian family that knows this dish that her mom makes and only for special occasion. And here Deborah thought she'd try it and then does it.

• 25:39Dan Pashman?

  It needed to be something unexpected.

• 25:41Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 25:42Dan Pashman?

  So was any part of the relationship between Marie and Deborah, especially as it pertains to food, was any part of that taken from your life?

• 25:49Speaker 01

  Yup.

• 25:52Speaker 01

  The food thing not being very nice to your daughter-in-law, that was my father's mother to my mother. That's where that came from. She would just belittle and make these little digs at my mom, under the guise of a smile. And my mother was very frustrated. And a lot of the fights were about that. And so I related to this a lot, because I saw it all the time, growing up.

• 26:25Dan Pashman?

  Was your grandmother a better cook than your mother?

• 26:28Speaker 01

  Yes, but that wasn't hard.

• 26:32Speaker 01

  My mother was phenomenal, by the way. I'm not gonna sit here and let you badmouth my mother. But I, she, cooking, I think she would even admit, not her strongest suit.

• 26:47Speaker 01

  Here's my salad.

• 26:48Dan Pashman?

  All right.

• 26:49Speaker 01

  Isn't that pretty? Come on, thank you, that's a beautiful thing.

• 26:52Dan Pashman?

  That is a very nice looking salad.

• 26:53Speaker 01

  I'm gonna, I'm gonna start eating this with my hands.

• 26:55Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, please do.

• 26:56Speaker 01

  It just becomes more fun to eat salad with your fingers.

• 26:59Dan Pashman?

  I'm all for eating salad with your hands. I think, I think it's the best way to eat it. My wife is very disgusted. She thinks I eat my hands too often.

• 27:05Speaker 01

  Because you're an animal.

• 27:12Dan Pashman?

  This bucatini is phenomenal.

• 27:14Speaker 01

  Aren't you gonna put a tiny bit of that bucatini on that plate for me, right there?

• 27:18Dan Pashman?

  I was just gonna-

• 27:18Speaker 01

  I will send it back with some salad.

• 27:20Dan Pashman?

  You need a little bit of the other stuff in there, though.

• 27:22Speaker 01

  That's good, that's good, that's good.

• 27:23Dan Pashman?

  It's got breadcrumbs on it, too. Did I give you enough of that?

• 27:25Speaker 01

  Don't go crazy. Yes, good.

• 27:31Dan Pashman?

  Everything was delicious. The pasta had sardines and a nice kick from the chilies. And more pasta dishes need to have breadcrumbs on them. Anyway, Everybody Loves Raymond ran for nine seasons and ended in 2005. Over that time, Phil became able to afford many more nice dinners. And to travel the world, not just relying on one fancy dinner to transport him to a different place. The show had a lasting impact on both Phil and Ray.

• 27:55Speaker 01

  We both changed each other's lives. Not just in making Raymond, but in this example. At the end of season one, I asked Ray Romano where he was going on his hiatus between season one and season two. And he said, "I go to the Jersey Shore." And I said, "That's nice. Have you ever been to Europe?" And he said, "Nah." And I said, "Why not?" And he said, "I'm not really interested in other places." And I thought, "Wow, we gotta do that episode." He goes, "What do you mean?" I go, "We gotta do that episode where you go to Europe as you with that attitude, and you come back as me, someone excited about travel."

• 28:34Dan Pashman?

  They actually went to Italy to shoot the episode. In it, Ray's in a quaint little Italian alley. He starts kicking around a soccer ball with some kids. Then he turns around and notices a pizza stand. He gets a slice.

• 28:45Speaker 01

  This is awesome. Awesome, awesome. You know awesome?

• 28:50Speaker 01

  Magnifico.

• 28:51Dan Pashman?

  Grazie.

• 28:52Speaker 01

  Bravo.

• 28:54Speaker 07

  This is like the best pizza I ever had, man. You like more? Hell, yes, I want more.

• 29:00Speaker 01

  And the arc of the character that I wrote, I saw happen to Ray Romano the person. And in that moment, I thought, wouldn't it be great to do this for other people? And so I changed his life in that he enjoys travel now, and he changed mine in inspiring me to do Somebody Feed Phil.

• 29:23Dan Pashman?

  Somebody Feed Phil is Phil's Netflix show. On the surface, it may look like other food shows you've seen, where the host travels around the world, eating incredible meals. But the key difference is that Phil is not a chef. In fact, he has no special food expertise whatsoever. He just loves to eat.

• 29:38Speaker 01

  I would watch Bourdain, and I would say, he's amazing, a superhero. I'm never doing that. Isn't it refreshing to see one of these shows with an idiot?

• 29:49Dan Pashman?

  Yes.

• 29:51Speaker 01

  You were not supposed to agree with me, Dan.

• 29:56Dan Pashman?

  So Phil isn't the most adventurous person out there. He prefers a hotel bed and a pillow to a tent in a sleeping bag. Still, just like he pushed Ray Romano to explore, he tries to push himself, too.

• 30:07Speaker 01

  There's so much to be said for any kind of travel, any kind of, you know, stepping out of one's comfort zone. I realized getting on a plane or even taking your car to another state is a big deal.

• 30:22Dan Pashman?

  Or saving up and going out to a nice dinner, as you did when you were in your twenties.

• 30:25Speaker 01

  Exactly, or even just walking down the street in Paris, for example. Just looking at the trees on the boulevards. I thought, look how they take care of them, look how beautiful the trees are. But don't you know, when I came home, I started to notice the trees on my block in Washington Heights and say, hey, we have nice trees, too. They're different, but they're also great.

• 30:49Dan Pashman?

  The comedian Patton Oswalt once described Phil as "the Mr. Rogers of food shows." It's a good comparison. Just as Mr. Rogers would be delighted seeing how a cardboard box factory works, Phil gets excited every time the food comes out. In one episode, once the meal is within sight, he starts pumping his fist in the air. For the first few seasons of Somebody Feed Phil, his parents, Max and Helen, were featured on the show. At the end of every episode, Phil would get on a video call with them and tell them a little bit about what he'd learned or eaten, like when he danced the tango in Buenos Aires.

• 31:22Speaker 01

  Hi.

• 31:23Speaker 11

  Hey.

• 31:24Speaker 01

  Hello.

• 31:25Speaker 12

  How are you?

• 31:26Speaker 01

  I'm very nice.

• 31:27Speaker 12

  I love to see you dancing the tango. That was by Frederick.

• 31:31Speaker 01

  That was the most frightening thing I've done on the show so far.

• 31:34Speaker 12

  You look terrific.

• 31:36Speaker 11

  Yeah, but, but you danced a little bit clumsy.

• 31:40Speaker 12

  No, he didn't. No, he didn't.

• 31:44Speaker 11

  Stick to what you do best, your gift forget. Forget the dancing.

• 31:48Speaker 12

  No, don't forget it. I think you did very well. I don't agree with that.

• 31:53Dan Pashman?

  In each episode, Phil's father would also share a joke. His mother died in 2019 and his dad in 2021. I asked Phil how it felt to make the latest season of the show without them.

• 32:03Speaker 01

  Hard, I guess emotionally, but I had this idea. When my, first when my mom passed, I wanted to keep my father in the show for two reasons. One is obvious, he's great and funny. And two is it would involve him in life still. And that was very sweet to have him tell a joke, which he was great at. And right after he died, I did think of their segment on the show, What Would I Do Now? And it came to me very quickly. What if I called my funny, famous friends and they would do a joke for Max?

• 32:47Speaker 01

  And that would keep the spirit alive. And of my mom too, because her sense of humor was, is represented as well.

• 32:57Dan Pashman?

  Did your parents ever get used to fancy restaurants?

• 33:01Speaker 01

  You know what? More and more they did. It's not something that they would kind of seek out on their own, but they seemed a little happier when I would take them than the first time. So I took them, I would take them on vacation whenever I could. One memorable trip to Venice, Italy. We were staying in a very nice hotel and all of a sudden there was a knock on my door as I was getting ready for dinner. And my dad was standing in the hallway of the nice hotel in his underwear. I said, Dad, we're not at home. And he said, Mom fell.

• 33:34Speaker 01

  Oh my God. So I ran into the room and there's my mom sitting on the bed, holding her cheek with a towel and there's, there's blood. She had slipped getting out of the tub. Well,

• 33:49Speaker 01

  I called downstairs. What do they, they send in Venice, an ambulance boat? And she said, you go, I'm so sorry. You go have the dinner.

• 33:58Dan Pashman?

  Don't worry about me.

• 33:59Speaker 01

  Don't worry about me. So my wife went with her to the hospital on the ambulance boat. And I took my dad and the kids to, to the dinner and um,

• 34:13Speaker 01

  she showed up a little late with 11 stitches in her cheek and an ice bag on her face and she ate that dinner. She wasn't gonna miss it.

• 34:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 34:40Dan Pashman?

  That's Phil Rosenthal. He's the star of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix. And he also hosts the podcast Naked Lunch with his friend, the writer David Wilde. Each week they have lunch and chat with celebrities and friends from the entertainment world. It's a lot of fun. Check out Naked Lunch wherever you got this podcast. Phil's also got a book coming out in October, Somebody Feed Phil, The Book. It'll include some of the most requested recipes from the show, including Phil's favorite sandwiches from San Francisco to Tel Aviv. You can preorder it now wherever you get your books. This show is produced by me along with senior producer.

• 35:10Speaker 03

  Emma Morgenstern.

• 35:11Dan Pashman?

  And producers. Andres O'Hara. And.

• 35:13Speaker 03

  Johanna Mayer.

• 35:14Dan Pashman?

  Our editor is.

• 35:15Speaker 03

  Tracy Samuelson.

• 35:16Dan Pashman?

  Additional editing by. Tanaka Maria Uva Vaidwa. Our engineer is. Jared O'Connell. Music help from Black Label Music. Special thanks to everyone at Franchette in New York. They were super nice and the food was amazing. The Sporkful is a production of Stitcher. Our executive producers are Eric Eddings and Colin Anderson. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.

• 35:34Speaker 13

  I'm Leo from Austin, Texas, reminding you to eat more, eat better, eat more better.

• 35:53Dan Pashman?

  This reheat was produced by Gianna Palmer. The team that produces The Sporkful today includes me along with managing producer Emma Morgenstern. And senior producer Andres O'Hara. Our engineer is Jared O'Connell. Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of SiriusXM Podcasts. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the SiriusXM app? Yes, the SiriusXM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, plus live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more. It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful.

• 36:39Dan Pashman?

  Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.

• 36:45Speaker 05

  This podcast is supported by Nurtac ODT, Remedy Pant. We know you didn't ask for an interruption, but migraine doesn't wait for the right moment to interrupt either. It just barges in, takes your time, and throws everything off. So when migraine takes your time, take Nurtac. It's for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. Nurtac can provide pain relief in two hours, which can last up to two days. Ask your healthcare provider if Nurtac is right for you, because your time is for you, not migraine. Don't take if allergic to Nurtac ODT. Allergic reactions can occur even days after use. Get help right away for trouble breathing, rash, swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or throat. High blood pressure and Raynaud's syndrome can occur. Get help for high blood pressure, numbness, coolness, pain, or color changes in fingers

• 37:30Speaker 05

  and toes. Common side effect is nausea. For full prescribing information, call 1-833-4-NUR-TAC or visit nurtec.com. All right, back to your podcast, playlist, or whatever's keeping you going today.

• 37:44Speaker 14

  Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. It's the tangiest time of the year. For a limited time, head to McDonald's and get a McRib sandwich. Make it a meal by adding a medium fries and a soft drink like an ice cold Diet Dr. Pepper. So grab a McRib sandwich and embrace the tang. Save time by ordering ahead on the app at participating McDonald's for a limited time. Dr. Pepper is a registered trademark of Dr. Pepper, 7-Up Inc.