All in the food family with Phil Rosenthal

Editor’s note: A version of this story appears in The Aspen Times annual Food & Wine magazine. Pick up a copy now for more on the festival.

It seems everybody loves Phil. 

That would be Phil Rosenthal, host of the hit streaming food and travel series “Somebody Feed Phil” and, perhaps most famously, the co-creator of the comedy series “Everybody Loves Raymond.” 

This weekend, Rosenthal returns to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen with a new credit on his extensive resume: proprietor of Max and Helen’s Diner. He co-founded the white-hot diner last year in Los Angeles with his family, daughter Lilly (hostess extraordinaire), and son-in-law Mason Royal (chef), along with four-time James Beard Award winner and Mozza Restaurant Group co-owner Nancy Silverton. 

Like so much of what he touches, the diner turned to gold instantly, with people lining up for seats for hours. The founding quartet will gather on Saturday at The St. Regis to deliver a seminar titled “Short Orders, Big Flavor: Recipes from Max & Helen’s, LA’s Hottest Diner.” And yes, there will be a line. 

Have you ever watched “Somebody Feed Phil”? I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I hadn’t until recently. That changed this April when I was fortuitously tasked with writing about Phil and his new diner. Instantly, I discovered a very deep well of Phil Rosenthal material to dip my pen into before speaking to the man himself. I prepped furiously on a binge diet of  “Somebody Feed Phil” episode clips on YouTube. 

While “dipping,” I stumbled upon an episode where he has his taste buds absolutely blown by a French Dip sandwich at Salt Hank’s in New York City, where the accents were as thick as the beef au jus. It instantly transported me back to a similarly drenched-sub religious experience I had at Al’s Beef Chicago right before a Grateful Dead concert. When I spoke with Phil over the phone and shared that scene with him, he chuckled and said, “I’ve had that experience too!” 

I was also riveted by a “Somebody Feed Phil” segment from Cork, Ireland, shot in a small Japanese restaurant, “Ichigo Ichie.” He was eating tempura-fried seaweed for the first time, much to his astonishment and delight. “Somebody Feed Phil” subtly reminds you to keep your mind and mouth open. His culinary wanderlust and infectious curiosity had me yell out, “Honey, check our passports and gas up the jet. We’re going to Ireland!” I wish.

He’s ecstatic about his return to Aspen, and he genuinely appreciates his good fortune.

“Listen, you’re never going to find a luckier guy than me. That’s how I feel,” he said enthusiastically. “First of all, to have had the life that I’ve gotten to have. And then to be welcomed around the world because of the show, to have the show and all these things. And especially to have my family, who I get to work with. I mean, it doesn’t get any better.”

I floated the concept of my viewing Phil’s orbit as a funny kind of culinary version of the ’70s TV show, “All in the Family.”

“That’s right,” he said, “but without the racism. If we take the title literally, ‘All in the Family,’ the title is kind of how I live my life. We are all in the family.”

I asked him about how “Max and Helen’s” was doing in Los Angeles, and how often he dines there. “Fantastic!” he replied. “I eat there every day I’m in LA!” He shared that having his daughter Lilly and son-in-law Mason both work at the diner is a situation that makes him whole. 

Upon hearing his interpretation of the diner and his enthusiasm for the menu curated by the critically acclaimed, taste-bud-tickling rockstar chef Nancy Silverton, I took the “family” concept one step further. I theorized that heaven, if such a place exists, is in fact a diner. “By the way,” Phil said,  “that’s exactly how I feel.” 

The big news is that “Somebody Feed Phil” is moving from Netflix to a new Phil Rosenthal World YouTube Channel in 2027, which will give him greater control over his content and allow him to connect with fans directly.

“I believe we’re the first show to move from Netflix to YouTube,” Phil explained. “Everybody Loves Raymond” was free to watch everywhere, and so now we will be again with “Somebody Feed Phil.”

I see Phil as a funny, highly affable, slightly goofy dad whose love for food and travel is infectious. He’s the kind of guy who jumps up and down and giggles when he tastes food he really likes.

“There’s no acting there,” he quipped.

To me, he’s kind of a culinary Buddha, with a plethora of interesting insights. Case in point? “Food is the great connector,” Phil said. “And laughs are the cement.” 

Phil’s list of accomplishments knows no bounds. He just wrapped up his third live speaking tour in North America. I’ve slowly noticed over time, every year at the Food & Wine Classic, someone steals the show. This could very well be Phil’s turn.

Speaking in culinary terms, it’s Phil’s world — we only dine in it. 

Catch Phil at the St. Regis Room 2 on Saturday, June 20, from 3-4 p.m. — “Short Orders, Big Flavor: Recipes from Max and Helen’s, LA’s Hottest Diner.”