SOMEBODY FEED PHIL...in Chicago

A few days ago, I wrote a blog post calle "Eating in Rio on SOMEBODY FEED PHIL." On Netflix, there's a most entertaining food & travel ocumentary series titled SOMEBODY FEED PHIL that's apparwnly been on for a couple of seasons. I just discovered it last weekend. I watched the Rio episode and loved it.  The charismatic and wise host is Phil Rosenthal, the man who created the hit sitcom, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND. Scroll down to read my previous post about Phil.

I've been watching S3 -- Season 3 -- of SOMEBODY FEED PHIL on Netflix. I watched him eat his way through San Francisco, Singapore, the Mississippi Delta and Marrakesh. All wonderful visits with foods that made my mouth water. 

Each episode I've seen has fabulous food, fabulous sites, great food, groovy people and laughs. And each episode also has a heart that may reveal itself after the laughs Phil gives us. The San Francisco episode was about hope.

That brings me this special recommendation of the Season 3/Episode 2 of SOMEBODY FEED PHIL...in Chicago.  Like Phil -- and as Sinatra sang -- "My Kind of Town Chicago Is." I grew up in South Central L.A. and graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee. I started my professional radio & TV career there after graduation. Over a course of 10 years in Milwaukee, before I accepted a New York City TV job offer in 1985, I took many tips to Chicsgo. Chicago is where I had deep dish pizza, one of my first dates with a guy, got career advice from Jack Lemmon, shook hands with Frank Sinatra, marveled at the great architecture, delighted in its museums and enjoyed some excellent theater. And food. Like Phil, I love Chicago, but not in the winter! We can live without a Chicago winter. However, early in my TV career, I did go there from Milwaukee a couple of times in the winter for auditions. I trudged through Chicago's frigid wind and snow looking like a giant Fudgesicle, but that's how serious I was to get ahead in my chosen profession..

Phil treats us to terrific archtectural sites and sensational food. The big heart of this episode omes near the end. Phil's warmth and genuine interest in people he's just met are in full bloom when he visits Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church. 

Phil tells us about the time he was a little boy and his parents took him to see Sidney Poitier in LILIES OF THE FIELD. He loved the song "Amen," heard in the movie, and sang it a lot around the house. When I was a boy, my parents took my sister and me to see LILIES OF THE FIELD too because -- well, in our community, seeing a new Sidney Poitier movie was the law. "Amen" was so popular thar we were singing it in Sunday Catholic masses.

The song is key in Phil's church visit. The heart of the Chicago episode is Phil Rosenthal's visit with the Black members of the congregation. His ease with and immediate fondness for the folks is a master class lesson in how to embrace diversity and inclusion. It's something we need much more of in today's world. Thank you, Phil.

If you csn, watch it on Netflix. Season 3/Episode 2 of SOMEBODY FEEL PHIL.Here's a trailer for Season 3.