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No one loves food as much as Phil Rosenthal.
Its charming, delightful, and infectious.
Your Dublin episode made me so nostalgic for Irish butter.
I thought,I cant go to Ireland right now.
Who knows when Ill get to have Irish butter again?I am exactly the same way.
But this is the trick: What we have to do is realize that we are coming back.
The world has gotten over this kind of thing before, and we will again.
We will get to travel again.
Our lives will be back to something like normal again.
What Im saying is, Think past it!
Have something to look forward to, because that is everything in life.
We always must have something to look forward to.
This is not some dream.
We know it will happen.
How can you be sure?Only because its happened every single time something terrible has happened.
Life has gone on, right?
So we will get back to some kind of normal.
We will certainly travel again.
Watch the Marrakesh episode and, if youre so inclined, plan a trip to Marrakesh.
Why should now be any different?
The same is true of cities Ive already visited, too.
I watched you in Mexico City, and your enthusiasm made me want to go back.See, thats great.
All we can do is bring our own experience and the way we think to anything we write about.
Thats what makes me different than Samantha Brown or Anthony Bourdain.
I am who I am.
Its not a character!
It really is me.
I dont want to do what he did.
I couldnt, because he was a superhero.
If I bring anything different to the genre, its my stupid sense of humor.
You do have a certain earnestness.
I say this respectfully, but its almost a childish enthusiasm.I get that!
Going out into the world, I do feel like a kid in a candy store.
Thats why I cant wait for this virus to be over because I want to rejoin the world.
How are you holding up in quarantine?Im in L.A. with my wife and my kids.
I have this little troupe.
My main entertainment is picking where were going to order in from.
Ive had some of the best meals Ive ever had sitting at my kitchen table.
The level of quality has been so high.
The presentation of the packaging has been tremendous.
And thats everything from pizza to four-star restaurants.
What Ive loved is ordering takeout from restaurants that dont ordinarily do takeout fine-dining as delivery.Exactly right.
When you do that, the quality is always really good.
Listen, this might be the future for a while, this takeout thing.
And I love the ingenuity and cleverness and artistry that people have brought to this.
Whats been the highlight so far?Theres this Japanese place here called n/naka.
Everybody gets two bento boxes filled with dinner.
Its probably the hottest ticket in Los Angeles right now.
They were onChefs Table.
Obviously the food is a big part of going to a restaurant.
But its not the only part.
Youre not clearing or washing your own dishes.
Youre paying for the experience of being taken care of!
A restaurant the word restis in there, right?
Thats why I love it so much.
Have you been cooking at home?
Learning to bake sourdough?My daughter is making banana bread.
My son is grilling on the grill.
I am even making myself eggs in the morning.
But I love the restaurant industry too much.
Im grateful that there arerealcooks out there and Im the best audience they have!
I should be their favorite customer because I love them so much.
I want to support them.
I want to eat what theyre making.
I dont have the talent, the temperament, or the patience to be a great chef.
Id much rather order from someone who can really do it.
They make my life better.
How have you been using your time in quarantine otherwise?
Are you writing yourKing Lear?
[Laughs]You know what Im afraid of?
All the FaceTime rom-coms.If I never see another show set on Zoom, that would be fine with me.
Have you been talking to restaurant owners about business?
A lot of them are struggling right now.Youre right.
And I wishthe bailout would cover them.
I wish there was a special restaurant bailout, and not just because I love restaurants.
Its the second-largest employer in the United States.Eleven million peopledirectly employed by restaurants, second only to the government.
Its a gigantic amount of employment and livelihood.
Some of them wont survive this.
They just cant,even with takeout.
Its not enough to sustain.
Theyre really going to need help.
Youve been involved in fundraising with theWorld Central Kitchen.Were doing what we can.
My wife and I are matching all donations up to a million dollars.
I dont want to live in a world without restaurants.
Its like an analogy for the disappearing middle class in America.
The mom-and-pop Italian place down the street wont survive unless we help them.
This isnt a political issue.
Its a quality-of-life issue.
I mean, can you actually imagine a world without independent restaurants?
Its unimaginable to me.Right!
We dont want to live in that world!
Its literally where we live.
When you go out with your friends or celebrate with your family, this is it.
Its our social life.
Wouldnt you rather eat at a great restaurant than see a bad movie?
We have to start at the shallow end of the pool and wade out slowly until were comfortable.
Other countries seem to understand that.
We have examples of what to do and what not to do.
But unfortunately, it seems our government isnt listening to anybody.
Heres the scary part: You and I want to travel.
When they say its safe to travel, we want to go.
Guess who doesnt want us?
Everywhere else.Because were the worst!
Wait a minute, youre from America?
Your system is for shit dont come in here!
Dont be bringing that here!
Suddenly, were the ones who arent wanted.
I dont think Americans are used to thinking that way.
This is where people like you and me, who want to go, are going to get hurt.
In April, we were supposed to go to Venice and Marrakesh and Paris.
Thats the first trip on our list.
That might be the easier, quicker trip to make.
Europe may be out of bounds to us for a while.
But wherever we can go, were going to go.
I think there will be a travel boom after this.
You dont think people might be fearful of travel?We need assurances.
