Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Girl. Hey, everyone,
Speaker 1: welcome to I Choose Me. This podcast is all about
Speaker 1: the choices we make. We're back with Phil Rosenthal, host
Speaker 1: of Somebody Feed Phil, and he's about to tempt me
Speaker 1: with some amazing restaurant choices. Warning you're about to get hungry. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm a vegan, so you know it's I'm limited as
Speaker 1: far as like where I can go.
Speaker 2: And if you go to New York and LA you're doing.
Speaker 1: Well, you're doing okay. Anywhere else be.
Speaker 2: A happy vegan?
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure?
Speaker 2: Just the Indian food alone, right?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, did you go to London?
Speaker 2: Of course?
Speaker 1: Have you had the Indian food in London?
Speaker 2: Amazing?
Speaker 1: Amazing?
Speaker 2: But I found a place in New York that I
Speaker 2: think is as good as London. Nothing's as good as India. Yeah,
Speaker 2: been there?
Speaker 1: No, not yet?
Speaker 2: Okay, So you can be a very happy vegan in
Speaker 2: India because a lot of people are so. And and
Speaker 2: if you listen, if you like Indian food gets where,
Speaker 2: it's really good in India. Same with every other country
Speaker 2: you can think of. But there's a place in New York.
Speaker 2: Next time you go. You might want to write this down.
Speaker 2: It's called Bungalow.
Speaker 1: Bungalow.
Speaker 2: It's on the Lower East Side. Okay, brilliant, brilliant chef.
Speaker 2: And that's some of the best Indian food I've ever
Speaker 2: had in New York, London or India. That's the one
Speaker 2: thing I find. Don't be mad at me, people that
Speaker 2: maybe La doesn't have as strong a game.
Speaker 1: M Yeah, I've never really like sought out all the
Speaker 1: Indian food.
Speaker 2: There are great places, there's just not I find as
Speaker 2: many as in New York, London, and of course India.
Speaker 1: Is it's what's your favorite kind of food?
Speaker 2: I actually love Indian and I can eat it once
Speaker 2: a week. I think I do really love Italian. I
Speaker 2: love Chinese, I love Japanese, I love barbecue, I love
Speaker 2: Korean barbecue. I love Korean food. I love you know,
Speaker 2: I live right in the middle of town, and you
Speaker 2: know I love a diner.
Speaker 1: Yes, Oh, I want to ask you about the diner.
Speaker 1: You are opening a diner.
Speaker 2: Yes with Nancy Silverton. You know who she is?
Speaker 1: Incredible? What's it called? And where can people find it?
Speaker 2: Because it'll be on large bumple of art in LA.
Speaker 1: Hopefully it's lovely little street.
Speaker 2: Lovely hopefully it'll be uh end of the summer. But
Speaker 2: you know, the city's very tough with the inspections and
Speaker 2: everything with just yesterday a guy came in. Different guy.
Speaker 2: It's always a different thing.
Speaker 1: Was a different guy.
Speaker 2: We did this, take a look according to the blueprint. Yeah, no,
Speaker 2: that's no good. What do you mean The inspector said,
Speaker 2: this is exactly right. Yeah, but I didn't.
Speaker 1: Why do they have to make things so difficult?
Speaker 2: I don't know, but it's like, you know, have you
Speaker 2: ever worked with a studio where you get a note
Speaker 2: from one guy and then you do it, and then
Speaker 2: another guy has a different that's like that. Yeah, everyone
Speaker 2: wants to be king of their kingdom, so you have
Speaker 2: to deal with that. But it's it's a necessary evil. Anyway.
Speaker 2: The Diaerd's going to be fantastic.
Speaker 1: It's named after your mom and dad.
Speaker 2: It is called max Helens Maxon Helens. And they were
Speaker 2: always in somebody feed Phill while they were alive. They
Speaker 2: did a little scene with me at the end. I
Speaker 2: would zoom with them just like this from wherever I
Speaker 2: was in the world to tell them about the place
Speaker 2: I was at. And they were always so sweet and funny,
Speaker 2: really funny. They never failed, they always delivered. Anyway, this
Speaker 2: is a little tribute to them. My dad loved his
Speaker 2: very soft scrambled eay. It was his favorite thing in life.
Speaker 2: So there'll be Max's fluffy eggs on the menu and
Speaker 2: Helen's Matsi bol soup.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I'm coming.
Speaker 2: Come on.
Speaker 1: You know it's hard to find a good mats of
Speaker 1: ball soup.
Speaker 2: Well, Nancy Silverton, I have to say, uh, no offense, mom,
Speaker 2: but this is a little better.
Speaker 1: Oh exciting everybody.
Speaker 2: Everything he touches it becomes the best you ever had.
Speaker 2: So imagine the diner of your dreams, like just nothing fancy,
Speaker 2: just basic diner. The best waffle you ever had, the
Speaker 2: best pancakes, the best tune of milk, the best pattimel,
Speaker 2: the best Oh my god, well Vegan, it's gonna be
Speaker 2: a little harder for you, But.
Speaker 1: I know I can have a waffle. It's got to excentent,
Speaker 1: but I'll try it anyway.
Speaker 2: Waffle batter have eggs in it, I.
Speaker 1: Think, so, I think so maybe yours.
Speaker 2: Well, salads, there's salads.
Speaker 1: Well it's coming and that's a exciting. So everybody look
Speaker 1: out for Max and Helen's opening soon hopefully. We talked
Speaker 1: before about how your family seems to play such a
Speaker 1: big role in everything you do, which again is why
Speaker 1: I think everyone loves you. See what I did there,
Speaker 1: from everybody loves Raymond to your foundation, to your new
Speaker 1: diner to your new cookbook.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, what's happening.
Speaker 1: You have a new cookbook.
Speaker 2: Here's the first one, and that did very well. That
Speaker 2: was a New York Times bestseller. Somebody feed filled the
Speaker 2: book and we thought we'd expand on that. The first
Speaker 2: one was just recipes from the first four seasons of
Speaker 2: the show, but now we have eight scenes of the show,
Speaker 2: so my favorite recipes from the rest of the show,
Speaker 2: and friends and family recipes. So it's Phil's favorites.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, your life is so good right now.
Speaker 1: You just eat and laugh and have fun and travel.
Speaker 2: These are the values family, friends, food, travel, laughs. That's it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's life to me. That's that's what makes life good.
Speaker 2: M right, m hm.
Speaker 1: Did you grow up in a diner?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, My whole life spent in diners. Yeah, sure,
Speaker 2: so New York, New Jersey, that whole area that's diner
Speaker 2: ground zero for dinner. Yeah, so you know, it's where
Speaker 2: we went after high school. This is where every event
Speaker 2: after high school. Let's go to the diner. You have
Speaker 2: a cheeseburger deluxe.
Speaker 1: Would you know where I used to go Canters?
Speaker 2: Of course. Well that's a deli and it's a lot deli.
Speaker 1: It's a lot like.
Speaker 2: Uh and it was twenty four it's.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm too old to go out that
Speaker 1: late now. But when I used to go out and
Speaker 1: like go to dance clubs and stuff, we would always
Speaker 1: end up okay.
Speaker 2: And we see guns and roses there, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's quite a scene.
Speaker 2: It was a scene, but it's wonderful. And I love
Speaker 2: breakfast all day. I think that's great.
Speaker 1: You and my husband both yes, yes, Dave loves a
Speaker 1: breakfast burrito.
Speaker 2: Me too. We won't have breakfast burritos. That's too new.
Speaker 2: So we're going back. Okay, this old school diner.
Speaker 1: This is like on the plate.
Speaker 2: And the designer of the space said, what do you want?
Speaker 2: I said, listen, I just wanted to look like we
Speaker 2: found one hundred year old diner because Larchmount where it is,
Speaker 2: has that history. What if it looked like this diner's
Speaker 2: always been there for a hundred years and what if
Speaker 2: the menu you kind of reflected, you know, the basic,
Speaker 2: just the basics, elevated only by the best possible ingredients,
Speaker 2: done by a great chef who knows what they're doing,
Speaker 2: which is need.
Speaker 1: You got to go back to the classics. You got
Speaker 1: to go back to where you started. I think that's
Speaker 1: the key.
Speaker 2: Well, it's that comfort food. It's that ratatoy thing if
Speaker 2: you have. If you bite into, you know, grilled chy
Speaker 2: sandwich with tomato soup on the side, it'll take you somewhere.
Speaker 1: It will take you somewhere. I know where it'll take me,
Speaker 1: but I hope it takes you somewhere.
Speaker 2: All are fantastic, but choose your own adventure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh my gosh. Okay, So, like you said, you've
Speaker 1: been married to your wife Monica since nineteen ninety Is
Speaker 1: that right?
Speaker 2: Exactly right?
Speaker 1: Wow, Okay, that is rare and amazing. Congratulations in this
Speaker 1: day and age. What is your secret sauce for keeping
Speaker 1: that partnership going strong?
Speaker 2: I have a travel show.
Speaker 1: What does that mean? You're gone a lot?
Speaker 2: The real secret sense of humor?
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: That's our most undervalue trade as human beings.
Speaker 1: I think, well, what about when the jokes are old
Speaker 1: and she's heard them a hundred times. Got to write
Speaker 1: some new jokes, get some new material.
Speaker 2: She can always make me laugh. I think I can
Speaker 2: make her laugh, and that there's nothing better than that,
Speaker 2: because now at the end of the day, you're old friends, right,
Speaker 2: And I think that the sense of humor thing and
Speaker 2: not just saying that as a platitude. Well, from the
Speaker 2: time your kid, you're attracted to the other kids who
Speaker 2: you laugh with, who, even if their sense of humor
Speaker 2: isn't exactly yours, you appreciate each other's sense of humor, right,
Speaker 2: You get each other's and it's how we make friends
Speaker 2: going forward in life. In high school you can remember
Speaker 2: laughing with your friends. In college, of course you have
Speaker 2: extra help sometimes making things funny. But then I'll go
Speaker 2: so far as to say it's who we choose to marry. Yeah,
Speaker 2: if you don't have laughs with the person I don't,
Speaker 2: I think it's long for the world.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean yeah, because I want to laugh, Like
Speaker 1: I don't want to be serious. I'm I'm serious at
Speaker 1: work or i'm you know, I've got a lot of
Speaker 1: my mind. I want somebody that's gonna take my mind
Speaker 1: off of things. Sometimes and give me that just that
Speaker 1: feeling of safety and comfort.
Speaker 2: My parents, you know, they came from they came from Germany.
Speaker 2: You know, they were Holocaust survivors. So they had deep,
Speaker 2: dark backgrounds, right right, and so they had problems obviously
Speaker 2: that psychologically that that of course, you can't live through
Speaker 2: something like that where it doesn't affect you. And so
Speaker 2: it was volatile. And you know, they had two little
Speaker 2: monsters at home and me and my brother we were
Speaker 2: always fighting. But when we weren't yelling, we were laughing.
Speaker 2: And making each other laugh was like the currency of
Speaker 2: the house. That was how you got Oh i'm good,
Speaker 2: I'm in good with mom, or I made dad laugh
Speaker 2: or I made my brother laugh. That's everything. That's that's
Speaker 2: that's like. And what's better? What's better? Everything's good when
Speaker 2: you're laughing, everything is good.
Speaker 1: What if what if there are homes out there that
Speaker 1: are listening right now and they need more laughter in
Speaker 1: their life, they need they want more laughter. How do
Speaker 1: you think they can get it?
Speaker 2: You lighten up. First of all, you watch you don't
Speaker 2: just watch the news. You don't just watch the murder.
Speaker 1: That's not going to make you laugh.
Speaker 2: Or the murder shows there's murder shows. There's a lot
Speaker 2: of entertainment at what they call entertainment out there that
Speaker 2: is the worst of human nature. I mean sometimes I'm
Speaker 2: not a prude, but shows where moms sleep with their
Speaker 2: son's friends. What kind of show is this? What the
Speaker 2: hell is happening?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Show? It sounds like a bad porn site. What are
Speaker 2: you doing? But it's Those shows are a lot more
Speaker 2: popular than somebody feed Phil.
Speaker 1: So lighten up, lighten up. Even what you're watching on TV, well, that's.
Speaker 2: A very good way if you're not. Everyone has to
Speaker 2: be funny, but you should know at least where to
Speaker 2: go to find the funny.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: There's a really fun movie out right now that I
Speaker 2: would tell people to watch that I just watch, which
Speaker 2: was Naked Gut. Oh.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen it yet, So.
Speaker 2: You got something to look forward to because it's jilly
Speaker 2: and funny and damn if it's not what the doctor
Speaker 2: ordered right now? Yeah, you know, I tell people, yes,
Speaker 2: you have to be informed. You have to know what's
Speaker 2: going on your you know, our lives, I think depend
Speaker 2: on it. But once in a while, a little somebody
Speaker 2: feed Phil, a little little break.
Speaker 1: A little levity, right, yeah, you need a break. That's
Speaker 1: so true. You have this foundation. What's the name of
Speaker 1: your foundation?
Speaker 2: Somebody Feed the People?
Speaker 1: Somebody Feed the People? Perfect? Yes, Why was food injustice
Speaker 1: and supporting restaurant workers something that you wanted to champion?
Speaker 2: Well, it's not just that you go wherever the need is.
Speaker 2: And for me, if I'm identified now as the food guy,
Speaker 2: then why not have it be centered around food? And
Speaker 2: if you go to my website at Phil rosenthalworld dot com.
Speaker 2: First of all, you can see everywhere we've been on
Speaker 2: the show, including every single restaurant in place that we visit,
Speaker 2: has their website, their phone number. You can make a reservation,
Speaker 2: you don't have to take No, it's all there. But
Speaker 2: the other thing that's there the links to all of philanthropy,
Speaker 2: including Somebody Feed the People, which is just an amalgam
Speaker 2: of all the food charities that we love to support.
Speaker 2: In this episode, I try to find some kind of
Speaker 2: charitable organization in the place we're in that we put
Speaker 2: it on the screen. If this has touched your heart,
Speaker 2: maybe you want to give a little something like me,
Speaker 2: and then that's a good way so you feel like
Speaker 2: you're helping a little bit, which is better than not
Speaker 2: helping a little bit.
Speaker 1: Right, that's so true. I think we can get scared
Speaker 1: that we don't know how to help, or our little
Speaker 1: bit of help is not going to change anything. Use
Speaker 1: so that keeps us from doing anything.
Speaker 2: By the way, at the very least, it makes you
Speaker 2: feel better because you did something. When my kids would
Speaker 2: get upset all my life, Oh I hate everything and everybody,
Speaker 2: I'd say, go help somebody.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it instantly changes things, that's right, when you put yourself.
Speaker 1: I mean that for me was having when I had kids.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, this is so good to put
Speaker 1: my love and energy into something else and rather than
Speaker 1: being focused on myself. And I always kind of credit
Speaker 1: becoming a mom and having kids just saving me from
Speaker 1: myself in Hollywood. Yes, and I just think that that's
Speaker 1: the best thing I ever did, so in essence, that
Speaker 1: was helping.
Speaker 2: We can all be self centered, right yeah, yeah, career
Speaker 2: or career, career, And I'm sure this extends to people
Speaker 2: not in show for sure, but the moment you have
Speaker 2: kids or have to help someone else, already out of
Speaker 2: your own head with your own blowney so true.
Speaker 1: What will we do without restaurants? I'm my husband, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he is in the hospitality industry, owns a bar. He
Speaker 1: owns a bar restaurant. This is his third endeavor. It's
Speaker 1: called the Douglas. It's in LA It's right by Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 1: So it's a great pregame after game place to go.
Speaker 1: They have really good food, not just bar greasy food,
Speaker 1: but nice bar food.
Speaker 2: So have to go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I gotta check it out. Come in. We'll feed you.
Speaker 1: He will feed you.
Speaker 2: That's great.
Speaker 1: But so I speak for my husband and thanking you
Speaker 1: for spreading the awareness and you know, and the gratitude
Speaker 1: for what is a really hard business and industry.
Speaker 2: You don't have to tell me I've invested in many restaurants,
Speaker 2: actually because I'm not very bright. Yeah, it's because it's
Speaker 2: one of the arts. Why shouldn't your sense of taste
Speaker 2: be any less important than your sense of smell or sight?
Speaker 2: We're hearing right, It's again all connected. And of course
Speaker 2: it's an art form.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like you know, cheers, where everybody knows your name. Yes,
Speaker 1: I think that's a good feeling too, when you go
Speaker 1: in a restaurant and you just feel welcome and you
Speaker 1: feel like the people there actually care and enjoy what
Speaker 1: they do.
Speaker 2: I asked Thomas Keller, one of the great chefs of America,
Speaker 2: for a little advice about opening the diner. I said,
Speaker 2: what's the most important thing? And you know what he said,
Speaker 2: the service, the service, even the food.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's true.
Speaker 2: You have to have that that you're talking about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that atmosphere is so important. Yes, and it has
Speaker 1: to be across the board with all the employees, everybody
Speaker 1: that works there, because there's that one, like, you know,
Speaker 1: rotten Apple. Yeah, that one cranky person you can really
Speaker 1: mess things up.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah. What's your relationship with self care? I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't say eating pizza because well unless that's true, but
Speaker 1: that's it. What's something you do just for you?
Speaker 2: Work out every day?
Speaker 1: Really? Yeah, I was just I was going to ask
Speaker 1: you follow up to this and ask you how do
Speaker 1: you stay fit when you're always eating and on the road.
Speaker 2: Well, that's, first of all, it's necessity. I have to
Speaker 2: the way in my clothes. But by and then I
Speaker 2: you know, I guess there's no such thing as a
Speaker 2: free meal. You gotta pay for it somehow. I'm paying
Speaker 2: for it by exercise. Walk first thing in the morning,
Speaker 2: I walk up like a mile and a third to Largemont.
Speaker 2: I have my coffee with my friends and my dog
Speaker 2: with me. Then I walk back another mile and a
Speaker 2: third home and then the weights, the weights. I gotta
Speaker 2: do it. I have to. And I'll tell you something.
Speaker 2: Even with that, it gets harder every year because we
Speaker 2: love muscle. As we get older, we gain weight as
Speaker 2: we get older, and I want to keep eating the
Speaker 2: way I'm used to eating, and I can't even you know,
Speaker 2: it's not even, it's not fair because I have to.
Speaker 2: I have to actually cut back otherwise you can't. They say,
Speaker 2: you can't outrun a bad diet, right.
Speaker 1: It can't.
Speaker 2: So your body is maybe twenty percent of your workout.
Speaker 2: Your workout affects maybe twenty percent of how your physical body.
Speaker 2: The diet is like eighty percent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's all about the food.
Speaker 2: The diet.
Speaker 1: I'm that's so hard because there's so many yummy things
Speaker 1: I want to eat nice. Yes, do you work out
Speaker 1: on your own or do you do? You go in
Speaker 1: there and you have the drive to get in there
Speaker 1: and pump the iron.
Speaker 2: You know. I never worked out a day in my
Speaker 2: life until I was forty. Really, yeah, and then I
Speaker 2: started going to trainers, and over the years, I've picked
Speaker 2: up routines and now I I'm self sufficient. So I
Speaker 2: have a little gym in my house, and of course
Speaker 2: every hotel I go to hazard gym. And before, let's
Speaker 2: say i'm filming the show, before I'm going to shoot
Speaker 2: that day, i'd better do some physical activity because if
Speaker 2: you've seen the show, you see me eat a lot.
Speaker 2: Because I am eating a lot.
Speaker 1: It's a hazard of your job, but it's the best.
Speaker 1: It's true.
Speaker 2: The other secret is I share everything.
Speaker 1: Oh that's a good idea, and it's.
Speaker 2: Only good if you can share it, because you know,
Speaker 2: I'm eating the most delicious thing in the world, and
Speaker 2: I look out at the crew and they're looking at
Speaker 2: me like this, it's not cool, So it's only fun
Speaker 2: to sh air it with them. I love sharing it. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The other secret is if you see me eating a
Speaker 2: lot in that scene, it's because that scene is the
Speaker 2: only scene we shot that day, which means that's the
Speaker 2: only thing I ate that day.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna, yeah, you're in go for it.
Speaker 2: So I'm getting hungry for the camera.
Speaker 1: I can't even believe how hungry you're making me with
Speaker 1: this interview. I do have one more question, though, but
Speaker 1: I feel like I know the answer, but I think
Speaker 1: it's important to ask this question because we talked about
Speaker 1: meaning and purpose and how we hang in there and
Speaker 1: the hard times. But let's talk about joy because you
Speaker 1: sure have a lot of it, and you sure bring
Speaker 1: a lot of it to a lot of people, and
Speaker 1: that's got to just make you feel really good. But
Speaker 1: what is it that brings you joy?
Speaker 2: Meeting great nice people like you? Because again that you asked,
Speaker 2: it's the same answer as to what keeps you going
Speaker 2: when in these times because most people are sweet and
Speaker 2: nice's let's forget that. Well, we see the news, right,
Speaker 2: So the news is by design showing you all the
Speaker 2: negative stuff. Why because the negative stuff in life is
Speaker 2: the stuff that actually stands out because most of the time,
Speaker 2: like somebody said, they never report on all the planes
Speaker 2: that landed safely today, that's true, right, but nine percent,
Speaker 2: ninety nine point nine percent land safely. We did a
Speaker 2: show in Israel. There was this was years ago, where
Speaker 2: there's a town called Ako, and they said, you know,
Speaker 2: the Arabs and the Jews live side by side in
Speaker 2: that town. Can you imagine. Yeah, I go there and
Speaker 2: I'm going, oh, my God, the Arabs and the Jews,
Speaker 2: they're gonna meet in the towns where and you know
Speaker 2: what's going to happen. They're gonna have lunch like they
Speaker 2: do every day. The synagogue is right next to the mosque.
Speaker 2: And not only do they just tolerate each other, they
Speaker 2: celebrate each other's holidays and weddings and celebrations. This is
Speaker 2: not in the news. That doesn't sell tickets, that doesn't
Speaker 2: get the eyeballs. Yeah, so maybe we can throw a
Speaker 2: spotlight on that. Right, Maybe there's room for something like
Speaker 2: that in the world. Maybe we won't be so depressed
Speaker 2: if we see the other side of things. Not everything
Speaker 2: is terrible, Right.
Speaker 1: It's so easy to listen and spread the word of
Speaker 1: bad things that you've heard about happening. But I think
Speaker 1: that is so true. If we just spend a little
Speaker 1: more time focusing on the good things in our days
Speaker 1: and the good things that are happening out there, it
Speaker 1: would we still have the script.
Speaker 2: We still have to fight, We still have to fight for,
Speaker 2: you know, so that more of the world this way
Speaker 2: and we're not dominated by the rotten Yeah, So okay,
Speaker 2: is it worth fighting for? Yes? Because we want to
Speaker 2: live in peace and love our neighbor.
Speaker 1: And everybody wants to.
Speaker 2: Be happy golden rule.
Speaker 1: Yep, that's very good advice. Well, before I let you go,
Speaker 1: Phil Rosenthal, what was your last I choose me moment?
Speaker 2: Oh, I guess right before I got on with you,
Speaker 2: which is a very good I choose me moment. Talk
Speaker 2: to you. Uh, I was on the elliptical for a
Speaker 2: half hour.
Speaker 1: That great.
Speaker 2: Right, So not only do I do weights in the morning,
Speaker 2: but I find another spot if I want to watch TV.
Speaker 2: Don't just sit there, get get up and move a
Speaker 2: little bit. Mat you do feel better? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Move move move yeah yeah. Oh my goodness, it's been
Speaker 1: such a pleasure talking to you.
Speaker 2: My pleasure. Dear.
Speaker 1: Let's go, let's go eat at the Douglas okay, okay,
Speaker 1: or I'll see at the diner too, Yep, I'll be there.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Bye, dear Bye,