In Season 8 of Somebody Feed Phil, Connection Is Still the Star Ingredient

“I think about that night a lot,” I told Phil Rosenthal, recalling a surreal moment in Las Vegas when a stranger offered us a ride and, mid-journey, stared at Rosenthal in the rearview mirror. “You look like that guy, Phil,” the man said. Then: “You saved my life.” He was talking about Somebody Feed Phil.

Moments like that still catch Rosenthal off guard. The creator of Everybody Loves Raymond and host/creator of the long-running Netflix travel-food series may have set out to entertain, but over eight seasons, his show has become something far more unexpected: a source of solace. Shot in cities as varied as Tbilisi, Guatemala City, San Sebastián, and Boston, the new season continues to blend food, travel, and humor into a kind of edible therapy—equal parts comfort and discovery.

Global Stops, Local Stories

Season 8 opens wide, spanning continents and cuisines—Amsterdam, Tbilisi, Manila, San Sebastián, Sydney, Boston, Las Vegas, and beyond. But as ever, the meals are just the medium. The heart is in the people.

Tbilisi, in the country of Georgia, struck Rosenthal with its ancient culinary lineage. “It’s where wine was invented 7,000 years ago,” he said. “The vineyards are a world UNESCO heritage site. Unbelievable. I picked grapes with old ladies who kicked my ass in the grape picking department.”

That mix of history and humor pulses throughout the season. In Guatemala, he was floored by the vibrancy of volcanic soil. “All the food that grows in the soil there is amazing. Guatemala has 37 volcanoes... In recent years, the young people are discovering or rediscovering what natives have taken for granted—which is all the heirloom corn varieties. They all not only looked like that, they all taste different. I had five of them.”

And then there’s San Sebastián. Rosenthal calls San Sebastián the “Kyoto of this year”—a poetic nod to its culinary prestige and emotional resonance on the season. Rosenthal visited Etxebarri, one of the world’s most renowned restaurants, and came away breathless. “Every single dish of every single diner’s meal, every single course, every dish cooked by one guy over open fire cooking. I dream about going back.”

Even in Las Vegas—so often a caricature of itself—Rosenthal found depth. “Like Orlando, it’s an immigrant town... Some of the places we go off-strip are unbelievable. Some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had, Chinese food, and Indian food.”

The Emotional Impact

Despite its lighthearted tone, Somebody Feed Phil has taken on a deeper emotional resonance over time—something Rosenthal didn’t anticipate. “I get DMs from people who tell me they were going to commit suicide,” he said quietly.

That’s when I interjected, finishing the thought he seemed reluctant to say aloud: “and then your show got them through it.”

Rosenthal nodded. “You’re the first person I’ve told this because it doesn’t sound real, or it sounds like I’m bragging in the worst possible way... but it is.”

The stories keep coming. A woman in Santiago once told him she was moving to Lisbon because of the show. A stranger in a parking lot—after mistaking him for “that guy, Phil”—ended up thanking him for helping him through chemotherapy. Rosenthal is clearly humbled by it all. “We don’t know the effect we have on people,” he said. “I could never imagine that doing my little show would have an effect on anyone in any way, let alone something as profound as that.”

The takeaway for him is simple but urgent: “If you put nice out, you get nice back. And maybe people are starved for something nice in today’s world.”

Finding His “Best Use”

After eight seasons and nearly a decade of filming, Rosenthal still isn’t ready to stop. “I’ve got to keep doing this show. I’ve got to, no matter what it takes,” he said. “And I know that Netflix has every right to say, ‘You’ve been on eight years. That’s more than anybody. Go away now.’ But I feel like not only is this show worth doing, but it seems to be putting something good into the world.”

For Rosenthal, Somebody Feed Phil isn’t just a show—it’s a calling. “This is my best use,” he said. “For a long time, it was sitcoms, but they don’t do those anymore... So I had to shift gears. And then when I did, it took 10 years to get this show. Now that I have it, I’m not letting go.”

If the show were to end, he said he’d keep going on his own terms. “If I have to do it on YouTube, I’ll do it on YouTube. I’ll do it wherever they want me to do it—if they want me.”

But what keeps him going isn’t just the food or the travel. “The entree to people that I get from doing the show is priceless,” he said. “If you eat by yourself, it’s literally half as good as eating with somebody else, right? And the connections you make over food… I always say food is the great connector, and then laughs are the cement.”

The Takeaway

When asked what he hopes people take away from the new season, Rosenthal doesn’t overthink it. “I can’t say it’s different than other seasons in what you’re going to take away,” he said. “It’s just, I think, a very well-represented snapshot of the world.”

And what emerges from that snapshot, once again, is his simplest, most enduring philosophy:

“The world would be better if we all could experience a little bit of other people’s experiences. Travel makes the world better—and selfishly, makes your life better. Because you come away with a new perspective on life that you take with you and have with you for the rest of your life when you come home.”