Cheesesteak, Croatia and a touching tribute in Season 6 of Netflix's 'Somebody Feed Phil'

Phil Rosenthal thinks his parents Helen and Max were "the best part" of "Somebody Feed Phil." And so it is that in an episode in Season 6 of his Netflix food/travel series, he pays a sweet tribute to them.

Dropping Tuesday, Oct. 18, the six-episode season follows the foodie, world traveler and creator of "Everybody Loves Raymond" as he checks out the cuisine and culture in such varied places as Croatia, Philadelphia, Nashville, Austin and Santiago, Chile, as well as offers up a half-hour tribute installment to his mother and father, who were a frequent source of comic relief in their appearances on the show before their passing in 2019 and 2021, respectively.

And while it's clear in the episode that he loves and misses his parents deeply, he's quick to add that they did not inspire his love of good food.

"Not intentionally," he says with a hearty laugh. "Neither of them were very good cooks, and so there were foods that I never had before when I left that house, like food with any flavor. But it was because they came from Germany, we didn't have a lot of money, they both had to work. Times were different and delicious food, high-quality ingredients, they just weren't the priority. ... But when I got out of there, it was like - you know in 'The Wizard of Oz' when she opens the door and now the world's in color? That's what it was like."

Rosenthal continues to offer up new colors in this season, such as in the first episode where he visits Croatia and tries, among other things, the burek, their version of a sandwich.

"I don't think enough people know about Croatia," he says. "I thought I was going to, like, war-torn Yugoslavia. I didn't know where I was going. You know, it's funny how we have these preconceived notions of places. But man, I got there and it was a lot like Italy because it's right across the Adriatic from Italy. There's a lot of influence there. It's kind of where Eastern and Western Europe meet. ... It's spectacular."

In Philadelphia, Rosenthal goes for fine dining as he hits restaurants famous for Thai and Israeli cuisine. But no visit to the City of Brotherly Love is complete without trying its signature dish, the Philly cheesesteak.

"There are two that I love," he says. "The ones in the show are Dalessandro's and John's Roast Pork, which even though obviously roast pork is in the name, they're also very famous for having one of the best, if not the best, cheesesteaks in Philly as well. There's (also) Jim's, there's Pat's and Gino's, which have the rivalry. You know, there's a lot of cheesesteak in Philadelphia."