Q&A: Phil Rosenthal of 'Somebody Feed Phil' is headed to Michigan to perform and, yes, to eat

DETROIT — "Somebody Feed Phil" host Phil Rosenthal is headed to Ann Arbor on Wednesday, and before you ask, yes, he already knows where he's going to eat.

"I've gotta hit Zingerman's, right?" he asks, on the phone from Philadelphia during a day off from his tour last week. "I've ordered from there before, so it's like going to Mecca for me."

Food is never far from the top of Rosenthal's mind. The "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator has reinvented himself as a traveling food personality on his Netflix series "Somebody Feed Phil," on which he's traveled the globe sampling local cuisines with friends and food personalities over seven seasons, the most recent of which debuted on the streamer in March.

He performs at Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater on Wednesday, part of a two-month, 25-city tour across the U.S. and Canada. Billed as "An Evening with Phil Rosenthal," he'll tell stories from his life and the road before opening things up for a Q&A with the audience. (He plays at GLC Live at 20 Monroe in Grand Rapids on Thursday.)

Here's what the New York City native, 64, had to say about food, travel and bringing people together.

Q. Are you as adventurous an eater when you're not in "Somebody Feed Phil" mode, or are you always, more or less, in "Somebody Feed Phil" mode?

A. I think I'm always in that mode. I think because like, especially on a tour like this, I'm in new places, and I want to try what that place has to offer.

Q. When you're in a new city, how do you decide where you want to eat? Do you already have a couple of places circled in each town?

A. I do a little research before I land and I see if there's any musts. And people recommend things to me, which is great. Everyone's always welcome to DM me on Instagram and tell me where they think I should eat. And these are one-nighters, so I'm probably only going to have one meal there. But if I'm going to Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, I need places!

Q. Do you find that you're like an ambassador of food, or at least like an ambassador in reverse, where everybody's telling you where to go to eat when you're in their town?

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