Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

My husband and I adore the show Somebody Feed Phil. In fact, it's the one show we agree to NEVER skip the theme song of, because it is the best theme song on TV. So, of course I had to read this book! And what a fun read it was. Giving behind the scenes info on the show along with photos and recipes, this book takes some of the best parts of the show and serves them up for you to devour while reading. If you love the TV show, this will be a fun companion read for you.

How fun! I didn’t know Phil before this sampler and I am so going straight to Netflix and binging.the whole series immediately.

Somebody Feed Phil the Book is a fine companion to Somebody Feed Phil (the TV program.) It provides behind-the-scenes commentary of specific episodes and places that Phil has visited. The book also includes recipes for readers to try at home in their kitchens. For those who prefer jet setting to follow Philʻs culinary and cultural experiences, the book serves as a handy coffee table read for your housesitter while youʻre out-of-town.

Love, love love this book. The book portrays what’s best about the television show in book form. The book is fun, filled with stories of people, places and foods that make me want go visit. There is relational aspect of this book that makes me want to be a part of Phil’s family but more importantly want me to a part of the places represented in the book. This is not a cookbook but a book about people and places with recipes to share.

As soon as I saw Somebody Feel Phil the Book, I knew I had to have it. My parents and I love the show so very much, and when I go t bed, I can hear them burst out laughing from the floor below. When it asked for descriptive tags, I just wanted to add, "Joy," but someone else might not look it up that way. This is a book about relationships I feel. It is a book that goes along with the show yes, but it also, as I said, is about relationships. Relationships to us, the audience, relationships with his parents and friends, relationships with food, yes, but also relationships and love for not only the food, but with the cultures, people, and way of life for which he visits. For someone like me who will more than likely never get to travel to these places and try the amazing food, I loved the gorgeous pictures and recipes inside. This book is a love story to all the places he has been, and I love a good love story. I plan on buying the hardback book for my parents for Christmas. May I also say, it is a true joy to watch Phil eat the food and see the expressions on his face. He brings me complete happiness even if I feel down. Phil, thank you for being the happy, kind, precious soul that you are.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the television show Somebody Feed Phil, Phil Rosenthal (creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) serves as a chipper guide through the sights and tastes of various global cities. It’s not as insightful or deep as something like Anthony Bourdain’s travel shows but it is much cheerier and a fine comfort watch. Rosenthal’s passion for travel and eating clearly comes through and he seems convinced he’s the luckiest guy on earth to get paid to do this. The new book companion to the show brings exactly the same energy. Somebody Feel Phil: The Book is a combination cookbook/coffee table book/memoir that should please big fans of the show with an interest in world cuisines.

The publisher actually only shared a sample (I believe the first third-ish of the book), but it was pretty easy to extrapolate from what I read. After a breezy introduction about Phil’s inspiration for the show, the book dedicates a chapter for each episode of the show so far.

Every chapter provides some show quotes, production details, and Phil’s general takeaways about the city and its food and people. As anyone who watched the show could probably predict, Phil is universally effusive with praise for basically all elements of the places he visits, especially the people. That’s his schtick and it’s never too tiring because the real stars of the book are its many recipes.

I came into the book expecting more of a travel memoir, and while you sorta get that, Somebody Feel Phil is more of a visually-pleasing cookbook. I’m not going to ding the book for being different from what I anticipated, especially given that the hardcopy seems to clearly suggest it’s a cookbook/coffee table kind of deal (i.e. the pages seem very big). Each chapter has about 3-4 recipes of dishes Phil had on his travels. Every recipe is written by an expert on the cuisine. The recipes are also often a bit off the beaten path, including khao soi (a Thai coconut curry soup), Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese puff pastry), and Braciola all’Arturo (Italian fried porkchop). The recipes are highly-detailed and feature a lot of tips for how to best replicate the flavors. I didn’t do any playing along at home and I’m not an expert on assessing cookbook recipes, but these seemed pretty well-done based on the detail. I think I could probably recreate at least some of these recipes even with my meager cooking abilities. My only nitpick is that I’d want some more substitution options knowing that some of the more specialty ingredients may be a bit hard to find.

There are also a ton of large and nice-looking photographs from the show’s production as well. These didn’t translate super-well on my Kindle but I looked at the full-color preview on Amazon and the book is jam-packed with a lot of photos, some vibrant, some majestic, some candid, all pretty amusing. But that is a watch-out with the electronic version. I’m not a big fan of reading recipes off my Kindle and the pictures are going to come through better in the hardcopy (the usual caveat for cookbooks, but worth reiterating here for those who expected more prose and fewer recipes).

Somebody Feel Phil: The Book is a bit hard to rate because I think it’s catering to a niche audience (fans of the show). But if you’ve read this far into the review then you probably count yourself as at least a moderate fan, and I think fans who enjoy cooking would get a lot out of this. The recipes are intriguing, diverse, and well-written and the reflective mini-essays from Phil about each episode are breezy and offer some interesting tidbits. I don’t think there is enough new non-recipe content to justify the price of admission for those strictly looking for a travel memoir, but if the whole package appeals to you I think it’s definitely worth picking up.

7/10

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy of Somebody Feed Phil the Book in exchange for an honest review.

My husband and I love watching the television show, Somebody Feed Phil (currently on Netflix). Phil Rosenthal was the head writing on Everybody Loves Raymond and his humor and warmth exude on Somebody Feed Phil. The premise is that Phil travels to different countries, immersing himself in the culture and eating lots of yummy food.

Somebody Feed Phil the Book is a great companion for those of us who love the show (or plan to start watching). Phil gives a behind-the-scenes look at each episode with photos and recipes (which include an introduction by each chef). The book also includes the scripts of conversations between Phil and his parents, whom he calls on every trip.

Do not read this book while hungry!

This is an enchanting cookbook, perfect for lovers of 'Somebody Feed Phil" or just lovers of international cuisine! The delightful recipes are sandwiches between stories of excursions from the show and pictures from filming. I'll certainly be adding it to my collection!

Phil Rosenthal, host of the beloved Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil, really loves food and learning about global cultures, and he makes sure to bring that passion to every episode of the show. Whether he’s traveling stateside to foodie-favorite cities such as San Francisco or New Orleans or around the world to locations like Saigon, Tel Aviv, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, or Marrakesh, Rosenthal includes a healthy dose of humor to every episode—and now to this book.

In Somebody Feed Phil the Book, Rosenthal presents never-before-heard stories from every episode of the first four seasons of the series, along with more than sixty of viewers’ most requested recipes from acclaimed international chefs and local legends alike (including Rosenthal’​s favorite sandwich finds from San Francisco to Tel Aviv), so you can replicate many of the dishes from the show right at home. There are also “scripts” from some of Rosenthal’s video phone calls from the road with his family making this the ultimate companion guide for avid fans of the show as well as armchair travelers and adventurous at-home chefs.

If you are a fan of the show, you will hear Phil's voice as you read this book. He's funny, smart and entertaining. He loves to eat, but he's more interested in the peoples and cultures of the places he is visiting.
If you have never seen Somebody Feed Phil, I recommend watching it, then reading this book. It's a great pairing.

I loved the original Somebody Feed Phil PBS series and was so excited when it was expanded on Netflix. When I was offered the opportunity to read and review this book via NetGalley, I knew that I would love it just as much.

Phil Rosenthal writes just like he speaks, with a wide-eyed humor and amazement that anyone can't help but love. He's amazement and enjoyment with new experiences makes me want to visit every one of the locations that he visited. In fact, I have visited almost every one of the locations that he visited in Lisbon. And he's 100% right about Nannarella and the pizza place next door. Both are just....*chef's kiss.

This book, and the recipes insides, are full of heart and love, just like Phil, his crew and his parents.

Now...off to plan my next trip...

Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and Phil Rosenthal for the opportunity to read and review this book.

First of all, if you haven't watched Somebody Feed Phil, stop right now, and go binge the entire series. Now, come back and read this review. Now that you have had the pleasure of accompanying Phil Rosenthal across the world and vicariously experienced the incredible culinary adventures, you'll most definitely want to read this companion to the series. Just like in the show, Phil's heartfelt enthusiasm for the food, culture, and people of all the places he visits comes through. Each chapter is devoted to one episode/destination from the first four seasons of the show and is part memoir, part cookbook, and part travel guide. Each chapter includes a transcript of Phil's video call with his parents (bittersweet, since both have now passed away) and at least one recipe from the episode. The advanced copy I reviewed only includes the first 7 of 22 chapters, so I am eagerly awaiting the release of the entire book, which I will likely buy the day it is released (which happens to coincide with the release of season 6!). Highly recommended for any food and travel enthusiasts and especially fans of Somebody Feed Phil the Show.

Somebody Feed Phil the Book
by Phil Rosenthal; Jenn Garbee
Pub Date: October 18, 2022
Simon Schuster
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I had run across the Netflix series and I absolutely loved it. So when I saw this book I knew I had to read it. Phil’s gregarious and funny nature comes through in this book, and the recipes and insights included are amazing.
I highly recommend it.
4 stars

As much of.a joy to read as it is to watch Phil’s beloved show. I loved e dry minute I spent with this book-from the markets of Tel Aviv to the gondola rides of Venice. Happiness pours from every page, and Phil’s words inspire you to learn, grow, travel - and eat!!

This book is great for anyone of the fan of Someone Feed Phil on Netflix! Phil’s gregarious and funny natures comes through in this book, and the recipes and insights included are amazing.

I loved aspects of this stories as someone who adores the show! However, the formatting with this eARC was so hard to read on any device I tried. Pages were mixed up so stories were jumbled. I look forward to reading it in it's final format.

This is so much fun! I love Phil and getting to know him better throughout this book was much fun! I loved getting to know about his favorite parts of his travels and getting to see behind the scenes photos that we didnt get to see on the show. I loved the conversations that are thrown in with him and his parents. This was so much fun!

I absolutely adore the show "Somebody Feed Phil" and I KNEW I needed to read this. Watching the show fuels my case of wanderlust and makes me want to travel around the world, so it's no surprise that the book made me feel the same. Such a great companion book for fans of the show! Tons of behind the scenes photos and extra bits from the places Phil visited on the show.

I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy when it's out in October!!

Thank you to Simon Element and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Oh, this book is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. It’s chock full of behind the scenes stories, photos, and recipes.

My husband introduced our teen children, and I to Phil after he had watched the first two seasons (I don’t watch much tv and I don’t want to waste my time on bad tv or film when I have books that I want to read) and this, I believe, was in 2020 during lockdown, and well, much like Randy Rainbow, we fell in love with Phil’s show - his beautiful relationship with his parents, his universal kindness, his true appreciation of food, and the magical filming that makes you feel almost as though you’re sharing in the experience. To me, Phil is a mix of Mr. Rogers and Big Bird - he is kind to everyone, and he appreciates things with the awe of a pure soul.

On his show, he conveys his feelings beautifully with his expressions and words. My family and I wanted to see how that translated into book form and were very happy with what we saw here - Phil’s Phil-ness comes across perfectly and the recipes all sound wildly appealing and not difficult to make if you're confident in the kitchen.

A definite recommendation.

This book accompanies the popular Netflix series with excerpts from the shows, commentaries, and recipes. Whil the commentaries are charming, almost all the recipes are too complicated to be something readers will make.

My husband and I loved this show and now we can't wait to own this book.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!