The creator and writer of Everybody Loves Raymond, Philip Rosenthal is a man after our hearts because he loves to eat and travel. He enjoys this so much that he has his own Netflix series, Somebody Feed Phil where he visits different countries and samples their wares. Rosenthal resembles Homer Simpson in that episode where the latter turned into a food critic. Everything is delicious and you lose count of how many times Phil has a huge grin on his face and says something is the best thing he’s ever eaten. As the second helping of this enthusiastic food show hits Netflix, we bring you five things you need to know about the program.
1. Rosenthal’s show is very much a family affair. His parents appear in every episode via Skype. In the New York one, he even gate crashes their place. This episode is the most personal instalment of this season because Rosenthal spent his formative years living in New York and he and his wife enjoy strolling through Central Park so much that they bought each other matching park benches. Cute.
2. The Dublin episode is the most important one for Rosenthal’s wife, Monica Horan who played Amy MacDougall-Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond. Horan has Irish ancestry and for a few scenes this episode turns into Who Do You Think You Are? Phil meanwhile, gets to sample Irish soda bread and goes foraging for seaweed.
3. The Venice episode is stunning. Rosenthal get to try his hand at steering a gondola with interesting results. He also ventures off the tourist track to visit Venetian markets and eat a sumptuous pork cutlet in a meat lover’s heaven, which is also surrounded by water. Go figure.
4. In the Buenos Aires episode Rosenthal tries his hand at Latin dancing. You know people say you can tell a lot about a man by the way he dances but let’s leave that one there. This proves to be a good workout and prelude before all of the meat that is consumed in this episode. This one is all about steak and more steak. You might even get meat sweats simply by watching this one. You’ve been warned.
5. Copenhagen is also a rather pretty-looking city. This one is all about bready goodness whether it’s gourmet hot dogs from a street vendor or the traditional smørrebrød sandwiches with toppings like herring and other fancy things. Rosenthal may have made a mistake by visiting at a point when the famous Noma was being refurbished, but he finds a lot of other Danish treats to whet the appetite instead.
Somebody Feed Phil: The Second Course hits Netflix today.
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