Netflix Hit ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ Is Getting A Companion Cookbook
The Netflix food and travel show Somebody Feed Phil has been a consistent hit on the streaming service for four seasons now.
Hosted by former Everybody Loves Raymond executive producer Phil Rosenthal, the popular Netflix show has a dedicated fan base who live vicariously through the television foodie star’s journeys around the world.
It shouldn’t come as a big surprise, then, that his beloved series has earned itself a companion cookbook that the show’s fans and fellow foodies will love.
The 4th season of ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ premiered in October
Somebody Feed Phil has been an utter success for Netflix and it all started with an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond.
Upon learning that the comedy’s star Ray Romano had never traveled outside of the U.S., Rosenthal urged the stand-up comedian turned actor to visit his own home country of Italy. It was during the show’s fifth season that the cast filmed a two-part episode in Italy and the producer saw how much the experience had positively changed Romano.
That was the moment when Rosenthal was struck with the idea of producing a food show that took him around the world.
“What if I could do this for other people?” Rosenthal told The Hollywood Reporter. “What if just a few more folks got what I got, what Raymond got, what millions of world travelers have always understood? And wouldn’t the world be a little better if we all could experience a bit of someone else’s experience?”
With that, his first food and travel show I’ll Have What Phil’s Having premiered on PBS in 2015, followed up in 2018 by Somebody Feed Phil.
How Rosenthal has been eating during the pandemic
With the pandemic cutting short many travelers’ plans, including Rosenthal’s, he’s been enjoying local cuisine. And he has not been disappointed in the least, as he told The Hollywood Reporter in April.
“The highlight of my day is figuring out where I’m going to order dinner from in Los Angeles,” he said at the time. “As horrible as everything is, it’s the golden age of takeout. The meals have been absolutely spectacular, way beyond what you expect from delivery. So that is the bright spot in the day for my family and me.”
Most recently, he formed a foundation called Somebody Feed the People (SFTP) with the mission in November of feeding as many people as possible waiting on long voting lines during the recent election.
SFTP, according to the released statement was “spearheaded by food and democracy lover Phil Rosenthal” with the intention of “raising dollars for organizations providing meals to The People at the polls.”
The show’s companion cookbook
One of Netflix’s top 10 unscripted programs, Somebody Feed Phil counts on over 20 millions viewers in almost 200 countries.
According to its publisher Simon & Schuster, the book’s official title is Somebody Feed Phil: The People, Stories, and Recipes and it promises to return to the people and sites Rosenthal has connected with on his show.
“As soon as I saw ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ on Netflix, I knew I had to publish the tie-in cookbook,” said Justin Schwartz, a Simon & Schuster vice president and executive editor.
“The book will tell never-heard-before stories and include behind-the-scenes photos, not to mention feature recipes for all the most delicious dishes, making it a must-have companion for fans.”
The publisher announced publication for 2022.
