Eating in Rio on SOMEBODY FEED PHIL

 I have to share this with you. A few days ago, I was really stressed out and wanted some mental relief come evening time. I wanted a piece of entertainment that would refresh my mind and mood. I went to Netflix and clicked onto an episode of a food/travel series called SOMEBODY FEED PHIL. I knew nothing about the host, I knew nothing about the show. I'd just discovered it. But when I read that the episode was in Rio de Janeiro and focused on the Brazilian food, that was good enough for me. What a tasty discovery! I watched and loved SOMEBODY FEED PHIL The host is a tall, lanky, chatty, affable, middle-aged American. He was new to me. I'd never seen him do any host work on TV. Well, come to find out, he hasn't done any regular hosting on commercial television, but we have seen his work on network TV. Phil Rosenthal is the host of SOMEBODY FEED PHIL. He created the long-running hit sitcom, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND.

Rosenthal is warm and funny and has a lively personality However, he never lets his personality eclipse his guests and other people he meets along the way. He keeps the focus on them. And the food. The dishes he presented all looked so succulent and delicious that I wished I could fly to Brazil with plenty of money, lots of extra napkins and eat my way through Rio. The pork ribs with pineapple salsa? Oooh, Daddy, yes please! Also, being a guy who loves lamb, Rio menus would make me feel like I was in heaven. I'd be eating as if I'd just discovered my stomach.

The food and Phil's tourist segments are beautifully photographed. He visits sites that are traditional for our American tourists such as Sugarloaf Mountain and the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. But his camera crew gives us angles and viewpoints we don't usually see. Rosenthal has a hearty appetite, loves to share his food and loves to mingle. His culinary visits took him to upscale Rio restaurants, street booths and to a favela in the lower income part of town. The favela visit is a good example of how Phil's warmth engages strangers, He finds a cafe with great working class food. When he gets the young owner to tell the story of how and why he opened the place, the story is very touching. Here's a trailer for SOMEBODY FEED PHIL on Netflix.

The next episode puts Phil in San Francisco. I lived there in 2011 and I'm eager to see where Phil takes us to eat. In the meantime, I really wish I had a big plate of those Brazilian pork ribs with pineapple salsa.