Phil Rosenthal (Somebody Feed Phil)

You'll hardly meet a more ebullient man than Phil Rosenthal. He's got good reason to be happy: he's a multiple Emmy winner for creating, writing, and producing Everybody Loves Raymond, he's got a lovely family, and a Netflix show where he gets to run around the world trying new dishes and meeting new people.

Somebody Feed Phil returns for its third season this weekend, featuring another five stops on Rosenthal's never-ending tour to eat everything on the planet. From Seoul, South Korea to Marrakesh to Chicago, it's a consistent delight to watch Rosenthal greet each new destination with a combination of wit, whimsy, and trepidation. Part of the joy of watching Phil go about his travels isn't just experiencing the sights and bites he does, but watching Phil throw himself into these new experiences with a trepidatious enthusiasm. "I'm like Anthony Bourdain," he told me once, describing his pitch of the show to Netflix, "but I'm afraid of everything."

Granted, the world has changed quite a bit since the last time we saw Phil scarfing down exotic treats in far-flung locations. The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down much of the world, and the same restaurants and chefs he showcases are particularly hard-hit right now. And yet, as Phil explains in our interview, that might be the best reason of all to watch: in a time when we can't eat or go places, Phil can do it for us, and show us the world we can come back to once all the dust settles and we can return to some semblance of normal.

Together, Phil and I talk about his relationship with food, how the pandemic is affecting the way we eat and order meals, and what his trip to Chicago revealed about The Spool's hometown.