-[car horns honking] -[motivational rock music plays]
[music continues]
[music slows]
[music slows to a stop]
[theme music plays]
♪ A happy, hungry man's ♪
♪ Travelin' all across the sea And the land ♪
♪ He's trying to understand ♪
♪ The art of pasta Pork, chicken, and lamb ♪
♪ He will drive to you ♪
♪ He will fly to you ♪
♪ He will sing for you ♪
♪ And he'll dance for you ♪
♪ He will laugh with you ♪
♪ And he'll cry for you ♪
♪ There's just one thing He asks in return ♪
♪ Somebody feed, somebody feed ♪
♪ Can somebody ♪
♪ Somebody feed Phil? ♪
♪ Somebody feed him now ♪
The great WC Fields was once asked what he would like on his epitaph,
and he said, "All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
I know Philadelphia because I grew up in New York,
and I think my first trip was to the Franklin Institute in fifth grade.
And then I met a girl who grew up right outside of Philadelphia,
and she seemed pretty good, so I married her.
That was 32 years ago.
And I've been coming back ever since to see Monica's family and to just visit
this city that's got such character steeped in civic pride.
They call it the City of Brotherly Love.
This is also where they wrote "All men are created equal."
But of course, it's more inclusive than that.
Today, this spirit lives on and even flourishes here,
especially in the community of chefs you're about to meet.
Usually the first stop for me in Philadelphia
is the Reading Terminal Market.
It's just one of the great markets of the world,
and it has some of the best food you'll ever find anywhere.
-All right, Phil, what can get for you? -Can you make me a little sampler?
So you want a regular pretzel, first of all.
Absolutely. These are my favorite pretzels.
This is the go-to.
[Phil] I just always get a plain pretzel,
but today I'm having them stuffed with stuff.
-Gonna pick it up in a couple minutes. -[vendor] Yeah.
'Cause I think I'm gonna get a lot of stuff here.
-Who am I talking to? -Talk to G first.
Talk to these people?
I know I want a Reuben, right?
[man] Yeah. Pastrami Reuben.
Beautiful. So you know, I used to work in a deli in New York.
-[G] Wow. Nice. Deli man. -I'm a deli man.
-So I'm gonna be tough, critically. -I heard that, yes.
[Phil] It looks… Oh, you're doing it right.
-Can I have a little taste of that meat? -[G] Yes.
-I love you. Thank you. -[man 1] You got it.
-You know what you're doing. -Yep.
All right. Where am I going? This way!
-[Phil] Dinic's! -[man 2] Hello.
-I love you guys. How you doin'? -Doin' well.
I've been coming here for years. You know what I want.
-You want roast pork, probably. -With everything.
You got it.
Where's Tia?
-[Tia] Right here. -Oh.
Hi, how are you?
-I've heard all about you. -Oh, thank you.
-Heard you're the sweet potato pie queen. -Yeah.
If you could put together what you know I have to have.
-[Tia] Okay. -So nice to meet you.
-[both] Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.
There go my daughter Lamirah.
[gasps] The whole family!
-[man 3] This is a family business. -I love this. Oh my God.
-You're living the pie life. -Yes!
Oh yes!
Oh, here's a place with a turkey leg. I love a turkey leg.
-It's Phil Rosenthal! -Oh, hello.
-[woman] Hi, Phil! -Oh, hi.
-How you doing? It's wonderful to see you. -[Phil] I love seeing you.
So I wanted to bring Monica, and I thought it'd be nice
to bring her childhood friends Mary Kate, Linda, and Celestine.
You know, we don't get to see them very often, but here they are.
So, we'll just share a couple of things, that's all.
-[Linda] You got it all. -[Phil] Yeah. How's everybody doing?
-[Linda] Everyone's good. -[Monica] So good.
-Can I help you here? -Please.
Oh, here we got a lobster in case you like lobster.
-[gasps] Are you guys crazy? -[Linda] I might like lob…
-[Linda] Oh, here's some chicken. -Thank you.
This is what Monica usually gets for breakfast.
-[Linda] Is this what Monica cooks you? -Listen, I love cooking.
-It relaxes me, the cooking. -It's like when we were kids, Mon.
She had the Easy-Bake Oven, the Easy-Bake refrigerator.
-She had all the Suzy Homemaker stuff. -Yeah.
Really? You'd think she'd have learned something.
[laughs]
I don't know if you like the best pretzels in the world, do you?
[traditional German music plays]
[laughs]
-You need a pretzel? -Oh, thank you, Phil.
Oh, and here's like a turkey, ham, egg, and cheese pretzel.
-[Linda] Oh my God! -[Mary Kate] What?
[Celestine] Never heard! [Phil] I'll try it.
They didn't have that at recess at Saint Joe's.
[women chuckle]
Who remembers when you first met?
Homeroom in high school.
You met her homeroom in high school, but you guys lived
on the same block?
-[Linda] Next door. -Yeah.
-[Phil] Next door… -Same step.
-Shared the stoop. -[Linda] Yep.
[Monica] We have a picture of us.
I was maybe two, and you were maybe three.
Sitting on that stoop with all the kids from Magnolia…
-So since birth really? -[Linda] Yeah.
-[Monica] Oh! -These are Tia's famous sweet potato pies.
You gotta try these. 'Cause everyone's talking about these sweet potato pies.
-[Celestine] Okay. -You don't have to eat everything.
-[Linda] Well, thank God. -Well, it's impossible.
I will think less of you if you don't, but…
-[Linda] I'll try everything. -[Celestine] I have the sweet potato here.
[Monica] It's so great.
-It's awesome. -Thank you, Phillip.
Thank you for inviting my friends. -How am I doing?
-[Mary Kate] Well. -You're doing very well.
-This was so fun. -[Monica] Thank you, Phil.
I love you guys. I'm so happy to see you.
[Mary Kate] Thank you so much. This was great.
[soft jazz plays]
[Phil] Shola Olunloyo is one of the great food people here in Philly.
He's a Nigerian chef and food writer
who helps people brainstorm new culinary concepts.
So an invite to his house for a backyard barbecue
probably doesn't mean burgers and hot dogs.
[Shola] So here's the garden.
-[Phil] Oh my goodness. -Nature in the city.
Oh, it's gorgeous. Look at this. I love it.
We're having brunch.
-We are? -Yeah, we are.
I'm gonna start with the quick stuff. You know, this is squid.
Just really good, fresh calamari.
One of the failures of cooking squid is just not using enough heat.
-It needs to be hot, as you can see. -[Phil] What… Oh man!
That is raging hot.
[Shola] We're hovering around 700 degrees.
Don't be alarmed at my use of my hands.
Some things require more dexterity than a tool can give you.
[Phil] Whoa.
Most people are heat-shy and don't have
an impression of how much heat it takes to actually cook things.
Heat-shy.
Heat-shy, yeah.
-[Shola] If you wanna cook with fire… -Yeah.
…you can't be afraid of fire.
But it cooks pretty fast. You can already see…
That was fast.
Remember, I didn't spray anything on the grill grates.
And it's not sticking.
So you're using the right heat to cook the squid.
-Look at that. -[Phil] Oh man! That is superfast.
[Shola] That's it, and then you're done.
And, as soon as we're done, a little olive oil.
-And be generous with your olive oil. -[Phil] Yes.
Luxury without generosity is not luxury, you know?
You have to make it nice.
-That's a great saying. -Yeah, indeed.
[Shola] These are leaves of capers from Italy.
I think most people eat capers, but most people don't…
-They don't know about the leaves. -Caper leaves are delicious.
I had no idea about the leaves.
Care for some squid, señor?
-[Phil giggles] Yes! -Two-minute squid.
See how juicy it is? Just barely cooked, but cooked.
Not tough just because you're not overcooking it.
-Shola, I love you already. -And the caper leaf.
[Shola] Yeah, the caper leaf is genius.
And what's nice about this squid game, you're not shot in the head.
-[Shola] So you see that? -What's going on?
I'm making you a quick baked eggs.
-That's cooking. -A baked egg in tomato sauce?
Spicy tomato sauce, almost like a…
-[Phil] Like a shakshuka. -Like a shaky-shuka.
[Phil] You know I like that.
But you see how that works in this oven? It's like…
-[Phil] Fast. -You know, fast.
[Shola] Do that.
Wow. Who taught you how to cook?
A chef I worked for named Fritz Blank.
Where was that?
It was a restaurant called Deux Cheminées in Philadelphia.
He was a Pennsylvania-German-Dutch chef.
-Look how quickly that was. -[Phil] That was 15 seconds!
[Shola] That's right.
Did you have an Easy-Bake Oven when you were little?
-[Shola chuckles] I wish. -[Phil chuckles]
[Shola] I'm not trying to make a pizza.
It's just a quick rustic bread, something I can dip in tomato sauce.
So, that is it.
We're going to have bread in less than
90 seconds, maybe.
-I like pizza, cooking with a wood oven. -[Phil] Me too.
[Shola] All right, there we go.
-[Shola] Pane! -Just do this?
-[Shola] Yeah, yeah. -Oh man.
-[Shola] Wanna get the yolky yolk. -Yes, we do.
-[Shola] There you go. -Thank you.
-There you are. -Aren't you joining me?
I am joining you, Phil.
[both chuckle]
[Shola] Absolutely. Look. This is the best part.
A little messy, but…
Mm.
[giggles]
Oh man!
[Shola] With the fresh basil.
We're eating like pigs, but this is fantastic, you know?
$14.95. Have a nice day.
[laughs]
[Shola] Well, isn't that…
Perfect.
While you're doing that, I'm gonna cook a steak.
Okay.
He doesn't know it, but I've moved in to his basement.
-How do you like your steak? -Medium rare.
Okay, good.
This is my favorite restaurant.
[Phil chuckles]
What do you think? Cooking with fire, isn't it fun?
I think it's awesome. You're awesome.
[Shola] Easy. Yeah, let's do this. That is all off.
And I like to douse a steak heavily with olive oil once it comes out.
So this actually prevents the meat from losing all its juices.
So, by the time it rests and I slice it,
you'll see it'll be nice and juicy, delicious.
Look at that.
This is why you always get a cutting board with channels.
[both] So you can do this.
People!
-Shola… -It's fine.
[Phil] I like Shola.
-[Phil] Look at this. -And we're done. One more hit of salt.
-[Phil] I go? -You got steak.
-It looks like this one has my name on it. -[Shola chuckles]
[Shola chuckles]
What a morning I'm having!
[Shola] That's it. Make it good.
One of my dear friends is the hilarious and great Patton Oswalt.
-He happens to be in Philadelphia. -[Patton] Oh my God. Come here.
[Phil giggles]
[Phil] And I'm taking him to one of the best restaurants in Philly.
In fact, it was just put on The New York Times' "50 Best in America."
This is Laser Wolf,
owned by my buddy, the great James Beard Award-winning chef, Michael Solomonov.
His head chef here at Laser Wolf is Andrew Henshaw.
[Andrew] How's it going?
-Oh, hello! -What?
[Phil] You're about to have the world's best pita. Look, here we go.
[Andrew] We have all of our salatim.
Salatim, this is called.
It's called "salatin"?
-Salatim. -With an "M," salatim.
[Patton] Okay. Salatim.
[Andrew] We have some Napa cabbage, a nice bean salad with some olives…
[Patton] Yeah.
Red cabbage, some seared fennel with sumac red onions.
-Oh. -Eggplant baba ghanoush.
Seared mushrooms and then just roasted celery root.
-Can I just get a shrimp cocktail? -[Phil laughs]
I'll see what we can do. I don't know, though.
We're trying to keep kosher here.
A bowl of mixed nuts and a shrimp cocktail will be fine, thank you.
[Phil] Choose your weapon.
-Thank you, my boy. -Look at these! Thank you!
Oh, look.
-[Patton] Wait. -[Phil] Little pillows.
-My God, if I fell asleep with this scent… -Yes.
-This should be a candle scent. -Yes.
-Fresh pita. Oh good lord. -It should be my cologne. Here, do that.
-Wipe it like a… Yeah. -A little.
Oh yeah. Get 'em all. Get 'em all.
-[Patton] I wanna try some of this. -Yes.
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Israeli cooking is, I think for a lot of Americans,
probably feels pretty exotic, so you've really gotta nail it.
Yeah, but you know what?
There's no such thing as Israeli cooking or cuisine.
It's a mishmash of everything from that area.
Right.
So, are there regional differences that some people can spot
and prefer in this kind of cooking?
There are hummus wars.
[laughs] Hummus wars?
-"That's not the best hummus. This is." -Oh really?
"The Syrian hummus is the…" You know, "The Lebanese is the best."
Oh, what are these?
-[Andrew] These are called french fries. -Really?
-"French fry…" -[Phil] French fries.
[Patton] So there's a French influence over in Israel, would you say?
-And then we have tehina ketchup here. -I'm learning so much.
It's gonna have our favorite thing, amba, tehina,
and then just some Heinz 57.
-That makes… -[Patton] There you go.
-That's what makes it special. -[Phil] That makes it theirs, yeah.
[Patton] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I love turning Patton on to food because, you know, he's Remy from Ratatouille.
So, were you already familiar
and friendly with four-star dining before Ratatouille?
No, not really. I mean,
I knew a couple of restaurants I liked, 'cause then, as I started touring
and traveling with other people and…
Especially, you know who really knows good restaurants? Rock bands.
I became really good friends with the guys from Anthrax.
And those guys… Scott Ian is the biggest wine snob.
-Knows everything about wine-- -The guy from Anthrax?
Anthrax. I've been dining with him, where he's like,
[deep voice] "This Nebbiolo is too big for the veal. I have to send that back."
-And he's right. -[Phil chuckles]
-And then he goes onstage and… [screams] -[mimics metal vocals] Yeah.
-He just knows… -[laughs]
Because, like, if I'm gonna travel, I'm gonna make it pleasant for myself.
I'm gonna make it a fun adventure, so--
-That's what I do. -They introduced me to the idea of,
"If you are gonna go out and eat, make it count."
But it took me a while to do that.
-Look who's here. -[man] How are you, man?
[Phil] You might remember my friend Michael Solomonov
from our Tel Aviv episode.
-It's been a while. -It's been too long.
It's so good to have you in our fair city.
-Have a seat. -I'm gonna hang, yeah. Is that cool?
-[Michael] Chef Andrew, what do we got? -Our whole branzino,
tomato, ginger, caraway, a bunch of nice tasty stuff.
-[Patton] Wow. -[Andrew] Over here, all from the grill.
We have our lamb and beef koobideh,
beets, which have been salt-baked, smoked, glazed, and grilled,
and then our chicken shashlik, which is with guava, onions, and garlic.
Then some caramelized onions and tehina.
[Patton] Look at Phil's face. He's so happy right now.
[Michael] Thank you.
I'm with two of my favorite people, eating some of the best food in the world.
We're laughing how you brought this exotic food,
and we keep jumping back into the fries.
-[laughs] -[Michael] That's the problem.
The french fries are so freakin' good, right?
I like to go…
-I like to do a little of this action. -Oh, look at him!
-[Patton] What? -[Phil] Chef hack.
[Michael] Yeah, chef hack. This is my jawn.
[Patton] Mm.
What does "jawn" mean?
"Jawn" is anything. It's like a subject.
-It can be whatever. -J-A-W-N?
J-A-W-N.
It means like, "Pass me that jawn," is like "Pass me the pita."
-You know? I just-- -Oh.
How old do you have to be to use this expression?
I think that whenever you want, you know. You have literary license here.
Yeah, but there are certain things that, if you're over 50, you can't say.
I think if you're over 50, saying "it slaps"
-just doesn't come out correctly. -[Phil laughs]
You know? And I see people on Twitter doing it. And it's like,
"Dude, no."
If you're over 50 and something slaps, you better see a doctor.
If you went to the bathroom and it slaps, "I have to go to the gastroenterologist."
-Yeah. -[Patton laughs]
[light music plays]
[Phil] Monica and I love the arts,
and I wanted to bring her to a place she'd never been,
even though she's from Philadelphia.
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.
I can't believe I never even heard of it.
-What kind of Philadelphian are you? -I know, right?
-Hi! Allison, right? -[Allison] Hi! Welcome!
-Hi, I'm Phil. -Welcome to Magic Gardens.
-Thank you. That's Monica, my magic wife. -[Monica chuckles]
-Nice to meet you. -[Phil] What a beautiful place.
-[Phil] This way? -[Allison] Yes, right on in here.
Right away, we're on theme with the show. We've got plates.
-That's right. Lots of serving ware here. -Bottles.
-Yep. -Wow. Look how gorgeous.
-[Monica] Oh, it's so nice. -[Allison] Yeah.
So, this is about 3,000 square feet of mosaic work,
all created by one man named Isaiah Zagar.
He started on this site in 1991,
worked on this over the past 30 so years, so it's pretty cool.
-Did he take time to do anything else? -[chuckles]
-No. -Or was he just obsessed?
-He eats, sleeps, and breathes mosaics. -Did he have an amazing wife? [chuckles]
[enigmatic music plays]
So beautiful.
-[Phil] I bet little kids love this. -[Allison] Oh yeah.
[Monica] Gosh! Can you imagine what kids do when they go home?
-[Allison] Oh, I know. -[Monica] "Mom, say bye to this plate!"
Yeah, Mom's like, "Where's my makeup case?"
"Oh, I cemented it in the backyard."
[Monica and Allison laugh]
We wanted to meet the artist from the Magic Gardens, Isaiah Zagar.
I asked him what his favorite place was and he said "South Philly Barbacoa."
[soft Mexican music plays]
We were at your beautiful creation yesterday.
-You mean the Philadelphia Magic Gardens? -[Phil] That's it.
Oh yeah, I know that place.
[Phil and Monica chuckle]
[Monica] Boy. It was our first time.
I can't believe I'm from outside of Philly and I had never been there.
Like a crazy woman.
It used to be the best-kept secret in Philadelphia,
but it's not a secret anymore.
-Not anymore. -What a legacy you've left on this city.
Not yet.
-[chuckles] -I wanna stay around a while.
[Monica chuckles]
And the chef-owner of South Philly Barbacoa is Cristina Martinez.
Cristina is a Mexican immigrant
who went from selling food out of her tiny apartment
to owning one of Philly's most popular restaurants.
Cristina, we were reading all about you.
When you were cooking just in your apartment
and doing takeout from your apartment.
-Yeah? -That's when you met Isaiah?
-[Isaiah] No! Before that. -[Phil] What happened before that?
She was delivering food to workers that I had in my studio.
[Phil] Right.
-I thought, "This is an amazing woman." -[Phil] Yes.
-Then I lost track of her for ten years. -[Phil and Monica exclaim]
[in Spanish] Over ten.
And then, I was standing outside the Magic Garden.
-[Phil] Yeah. -And this woman jumps off the bicycle
and hugs and kisses me, and she says she's doing very well.
And I think, "Who the heck was that?"
[all laugh]
But women are kissing you all the time, aren't they?
-Not all the time. I would like it more. -[laughs]
[all laugh]
-Might get extra today if you're lucky. -[Monica] I think it's happening.
-Oh! -[all laugh]
-Monica, how great is this? -Oh my God, I love it.
Boy, the flavor of that broth is crazy good, right?
[Phil] Mm!
[Phil] Cristina met her husband and co-owner Ben Miller
when they worked in another Philly kitchen until word got out she was undocumented.
The owner fired her on the spot,
but that experience solidified her commitment
to not only go out on our own but to fight for the rights of undocumented workers.
[soft Mexican music plays]
[Phil] So we can add bravery to the list of her more obvious talents.
Now, they say this one is spicy. Should I do it?
Man, that's good.
You know, I get free food forever.
-Here? -Forever, yeah.
[Monica chuckles]
-People, this is why you become an artist. -And she's younger than me.
-[Monica laughs] -So forever means forever.
[Monica laughs]
[Cristina] How's everything?
[Phil] You know how everything is? It's phenomenal.
-[Cristina] It's good? Okay. -We love it.
I love it so much. It's a beautiful thing.
But I'm so impressed with you
and your journey, and you… to me, you are America.
You are why America is great.
-[Isaiah] Bravo. -Yes. I really believe that.
And the two of you… You too, Isaiah.
You're both nourishing the soul
and I just… I'm so proud to be here with you both.
So I just want to say that.
-[Isaiah] Thank you. -Thank you.
[in Spanish] Thank you very much. We are both strong artists.
-[Isaiah] Oh! -[all chuckle]
-I'll need some subtitles. -Enjoy, guys. I gotta go. Come back, okay?
-[Cristina] Okay. -Thank you. What a sweetie.
-[Monica] Oh my God. -[Phil] How great is she?
Can I tell you what a pleasure it's been to meet you?
-[Isaiah] You're different than I thought. -[Phil] What did you think?
I didn't think anything because I didn't watch the television program.
-Give him a kiss. -[Monica] Oh my God.
[kissing]
[Monica] Thank you.
-[Isaiah] She's a handful. -[Monica laughs]
Bye, Isaiah.
[Phil] We're going to Wissahickon Valley Park
with my buddy, Michael Solomonov,
and we're doing this.
-How are you? -Are you a rider? Do you do this?
So, I just… No.
-[Phil] Really? -Are you ready?
Yeah. So, here we go.
-This is… an episode of Jews on Horseback. -Yeah. [chuckles]
-Look at this. What's her name? -Bridget.
Bridget. Is Bridget for me?
Bridget is for you.
-Hee-hee. -[Michael] Hm.
Hi, Bridget.
Oh, what a sweetie pie.
[woman 1] First, we find a helmet to fit your head.
Feels small.
That's it. Now we're talking.
[woman 1] And then we'll get you on.
I like a staircase to a horse.
There are some people, like cowboys, who don't need the staircase.
-We're not cowboys, though. -[Phil] You're right.
[woman 2] Jump and swing your right leg over.
Jump and swing.
Hee-hee.
[Michael] Nice mount.
-It's the dismount that I worry about. -[Michael chuckles] Yeah!
[orchestral Hollywood Western music plays]
Good morning.
-I'm on a horse. -[Michael chuckles]
[Phil] Oh, I love that horse, Bridget.
These two seem like the sweetest, most gentle…
Ooh, careful, honey.
-Wait. Where are you going? -No.
-[Michael] Bridget. -[Phil] She is not happy.
[Michael] Come on. Okay, here we go.
[chuckles]
[Phil] This is… She wants to go where she wants.
Where do you wanna go, sweetie?
You know where she wanted to go?
-[music continues] -[car horns honking]
[Phil] Whoa!
Beautiful job, Bridget.
[Michael] Good job.
This is honestly my favorite horse.
She took me to Dalessandro's. I mean, that's a horse!
Right?
The navigation system on my car is not as good as Bridget.
[laughs]
[Phil] And there it is.
Thinly-sliced beef with cheese and your choice of other stuff
on a long soft roll.
This is the world-famous Philly cheesesteak.
-[Michael] So… -Let's start with the classic, yes?
-[Michael] Yeah, let's do it. -Yeah.
-Yeah, why don't you dress it a bit? -[Michael] You want a little?
See how it smells.
When you come to Philly, are you like, "I have to get a cheesesteak"?
-Of course. Yes! -Mm.
Ah.
Man, the rolls too, are so good. They're lighter than air, you know?
So soft, so delicious.
There are a lot of great cheesesteaks in this town.
Right? It's what we do, but…
None better.
I mean, everyone's got their own vibe and this is so different
than the ones that you get in the city.
[Phil] Mm.
-[Michael] It's good. -Yes?
[Michael chuckles]
You wanna try that?
[Richard] My God.
-[Richard] As she throws up all over you. -[Michael] Judgy. Yeah.
-She wants to check it out. -[Michael] She was in there.
I feel like the onions are gonna make our horses run away though.
We're gonna be, like, hitchhiking back to the park.
[Italian music plays]
[Phil] The meat in that cheesesteak is a rib eye.
[Michael] Awesome, rib eye.
[Phil] Every other ingredient is great.
They even make the Whiz taste good.
[Michael] Not an easy thing to do.
It slaps. [chuckles]
-[laughs] -It slaps.
I said it right in context, everybody.
[Phil] But Philly's no one-sandwich town.
While they also make an award-winning cheesesteak,
the specialty of one of my favorite places is right there in the name.
[upbeat music plays]
There's a classic institution here in Philadelphia.
It's called John's Roast Pork, and I've been coming here for many years.
And to help me today, is my old friend
Stephen Nathan, who was a writer with me on Raymond at the beginning,
and, as a young actor, appeared in the movie version of the musical 1776,
which was set in revolutionary-era Philadelphia.
[Phil] And he's back!
Hee-hee.
-[Phil chuckles] -Oh my God!
-I got you a sandwich… or two. -Oh my God.
-[Phil] Yes. This is good. -All right. Is it enough?
-I'm gonna go with roast pork first. -I'm going roast pork too.
-[Phil] We can cut it if you want. -I don't think we should cut it.
I think the whole thing is… It's man against meat.
[cool jazz plays]
[Stephen] Mm.
Oh, you go from the top down.
I'm eating it like an ear of corn.
You're way more animal than I am.
[Stephen] Mm.
I keep eating. What's wrong with me, people?
Well, this is delicious.
[Phil] It actually gets more delicious as you keep eating.
[Phil] But there's one more stop on the Philadelphia sandwich trail.
What you might know as a sub or a hero is called a hoagie here.
Joe Beddia already has the number-one pizza place in town,
and tonight we're going to his exclusive Hoagie Omakase room.
Omakase, for those of you who don't know, means "chef's choice" in Japanese
and I think this is the first time it's been applied to hoagies.
First up, a roasted vegetable hoagie with Philly's favorite cheese, provolone.
[Phil] Mm.
This is gorgeous.
-I'm not trying to reinvent anything. -[Phil] Yes.
[Joe] So when I use great cheese and a great extra virgin olive oil,
all those things, they follow the path but make it my own.
-Is that a tuna? -[chef] Absolutely.
-Oh man! -[chef] You are correct.
[Joe] And this one is Italian tuna
and smoked sardines from Bar Harbor, Maine.
[Phil] Oh my God.
Mm.
[Phil] Ho-ho!
That's a tuna hoagie. Come on!
This is an incredible hoagie.
[Phil] And finally, smoked ham.
Mm… [hums]
[Phil] Oh, sandwich. I love you.
[soft Italian folk music plays]
Today, I'm going to a pasta bar set in a 125-year-old building
that used to be a sausage place.
It's run by my friend Marc Vetri, acclaimed chef, Philadelphia native,
and co-owner of several of the city's most revered restaurants.
-[Phil] How are you? -I'm great. How are you?
-I'm gonna eat a lot. -Enjoy.
Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho.
Oh, I'm very happy.
You're happy? I'm happy. Dude, it's so good to see you.
[Phil] And I'm meeting someone who's near and dear to both of us, Liz Scott.
We'll tell you more about Liz in a minute.
Look at us now, living it up.
-[man] You're at Fiorella. -[Phil] How are you?
I'm seeing… It's a preview of coming attractions.
[both chuckle]
-This is squid and beans. -[Phil] Hi.
-Squid and beans. -Yum.
-You like that? -Yes, I do like that.
Mm! [chuckles]
[server] Squash carpaccio.
-Ooh, that's pretty! -[Liz] I love that, yes.
[Marc] Chorizo right on top, some seeds in there.
-[Liz] This is delicious. -Thank you.
I love having lots of first courses with a whole bunch of vegetables
-and different things. -Yes.
It's all those little things. A little thing goes a long way.
Well, listen, that leads us to how we know each other.
Exactly.
And I want people to know about the greatest organization
that you started, your family started, and you were the first…
Correct me if I'm wrong, the first chef to jump on?
-Yeah. -This is Alex's Lemonade.
Alex started this when she was not even four years old, maybe?
[Liz] She was four years old. She had been fighting cancer.
She decided to set up a lemonade stand to help find a cure for other kids.
And, fast-forward,
by the time she died at eight, she raised a million dollars
from other people learning about her and getting involved.
-And then we met Marc in 2005. -Yeah.
Him and his business partner Jeff wanted to do something.
-Well, the first event we did… local. -It was Philly, right.
And, cut to, how much money have these events raised for children's cancer?
Around 15 million. Yep.
-How great is that? -It's amazing.
-[Liz] And the community is just-- -The community is gorgeous.
-It's the best food event in the country. -Mm-hm.
Because of people like Marc and his friends
and the way the community comes together. And they bring their A-game.
-People are really into it. -[Marc] Yeah.
-[Phil] To Alex. -[Marc] To Alex.
-Agreed. -[Marc] Hold up. I'll do…
-I'm getting in on that. -[Liz] To Alex.
[Marc] To Alex.
[Phil] And speaking of "A-game"…
-Hi. -[server] Rigatoni with the sausage ragù.
This is the original sausage recipe from here.
[Phil] Look at this, people.
[Marc] Dip this. It's really…
I'm taking a little more than I usually would.
-[Marc] You're gonna want to eat this. -[Phil] Yes.
-I knew this would be awesome. -[Marc chuckles]
-Your lobster-stuffed conchiglie. -Oh! What?
[Marc] Lobster-stuffed shells.
This is fancy-schmancy now. Now we're--
Eh, it's not that fancy.
[Phil] Well, it's got lobster in it.
Mm! Marc!
Never had anything like that.
I haven't eaten yet. Let me eat some of this.
I can't believe how crass this is.
I can't believe you didn't offer me any.
That the cook comes and eats your food while you're eating.
Have you ever?
Well, I'm never coming here again.
-This is Matt. -[Phil] Hi, Matt. How are you?
-He's the chef. -[Phil] This is… I know what this is!
-This is-- -I don't know what it is. Tell me.
The GOAT! The GOAT! The greatest of all time. And, it's goat.
-We win again. -Oh.
-[Marc] That's not on the menu here. -Brought it over special.
[Phil] Um, but, you know, I remember that you loved it so much.
-[Phil] Standing ovation. -So we wanted to make it for you.
Can you cut a little piece for her?
-Yeah, it just rips right off. You just… -Oh yeah.
This is made in the wood oven. It is so spectacular, this thing.
-It's on polenta, right? -[Marc] Yes it is.
-And look at that. I want that piece. -[Marc] Fresh-made polenta.
Look at that.
-Marc, I could kiss you. Look at this. -[Liz chuckles]
-[Liz] You had to bring it over… -We made it at Vetri and warmed it here.
-You did? -[Marc] Well, we don't have a wood oven.
You know, we have a smoker.
[bangs table]
[Liz] Wow.
Is that the greatest?
And, yes, you have to taste this goat He's looking at it like, "Uh, where's my…"
-No, no, no. I refuse! -[Marc] No, I'll get it.
I wouldn't leave you out.
-I couldn't leave you out. -No. Leave me out.
-Why? Are you full? -Finito.
-[Phil] You sure? -[chuckles] Yeah.
[Phil] Are you afraid of goat?
[upbeat Italian folk music plays]
[Phil] Marc Vetri told me that his favorite pizza was around the corner,
and it's Angelo's, so I thought I'd just swing by.
-Picking up? -Phil. Yeah.
-Under who? -Phil Rosenthal.
Isn't out yet.
[Phil] It's not ready.
[man 1 shouts] Brian W.!
You're the announcer.
Vincenzo.
-Vincenzo, I'm Phil. Vincenzo. -Hi, Phil.
[man 1 shouts] Brian S.!
Brian S.? Michael W.? I heard another name. Did you?
-[man 1 shouts] Phil R.! -Phil R. That's me!
Go ahead. Go up.
Hee-hee.
-[man 1 shouts] Sarah P.! -Sarah P.!
-[man 1 shouts] Sager I.! -Sager I.! Come on!
[man 1 shouts] Brian W.!
-Hey, can I sit right here? -[man 2] Absolutely.
Thank you, man.
You guys waiting?
-Yeah, we've been waiting. -Yeah.
-Have a slice. -Are you serious?
-Yeah. -[chuckles]
-What's your name? -I'm Joe.
-Hi, Joe. I'm Phil. -Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you. Grab a sli… You like pepperoni or sausage?
-Pepperoni's fine. -Do it.
-All right. Thank you very much. -Who's your friend?
-Owen. My name's Owen. -Hi, Owen. You want a slice?
-Yeah, thank you. -Go for it.
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Let's see how this pie is. Ready?
Oh, I'm already started.
[all chuckle]
[Phil chuckles]
It's pretty good.
-What's your name? -Isaiah.
-Yes, sir.
-Come here, man. -[chuckles]
You like pizza?
-Yes, sir. -I figure if you're here.
You didn't get. Come here.
-You like sausage pie? -Yes.
-What's your name? -Lauren.
-I'm Jack. -Jack, come on.
Thank you.
Jocelyn, you like sausage?
I do. Thank you.
-I love all kinds of pizza. -Then come over here.
[chuckles]
-You like that? -Yes, sir.
-You grab it. What's your name? -Tom.
-Hi, Tom. I'm Phil. -Phil, a pleasure.
-My pleasure. Enjoy your pizza. -Thank you so much.
[Vincenzo] How is it, Phil?
[Phil] Vincenzo, this is awesome.
Good, good, good.
What's a good Philly word?
What do you say when something's great in Philly?
[Owen] "That's my jawn."
"Delicioso!"
All right. Delicioso is good.
[Joe chuckles]
Philadelphia!
Today, I'm getting a little tour of the old city
and the important places in our country's history
from a real expert.
This is Gavin Shurn.
-Hi, Gavin. -Hi.
-How you doing? -I'm good. How about you?
-I like your shirt. -Thank you.
-Phillies. -My favorite team.
-Oh yeah? -Yeah.
-I like it 'cause it has "Phil" in it. -[chuckles] Yeah.
[Phil] This building right here, I've seen this before.
-Yeah, this is Independence Hall. -Yeah.
And this is where the Declaration of Independence was finished and signed off.
[Phil] What's your favorite part of the Declaration?
[Gavin] I think the beginning.
-It just sounds so powerful. -[Phil] It does.
[Gavin] It sounds like we've had enough, and we want to be our own country.
You know what my favorite part is? I've said this before.
That we have certain rights.
-Life… Can't have anything without that. -Yeah.
Liberty, freedom…
And my favorite.
-The pursuit of happiness. -Yeah.
-[Phil] Right? -Yeah.
-What else you want to show me? -We could go to the Liberty Bell.
-I wanna see that. -Okay.
[Phil] This bell alone brings millions of people to Philadelphia every year.
And it's cool to see it in person.
There's a lesson in that crack.
From there, Gavin leads me down the street to see the grave site
of one of his biggest heroes.
[Gavin murmuring]
[Phil] Look, Ben Franklin's grave.
"1790, Benjamin and Deborah Franklin."
[Phil] Wow!
It's hard to imagine that Ben Franklin was just right there.
-[Phil] Right there. Incredible, huh? -Yeah.
[Phil] So, what's an appropriate payment for a junior high schooler
who gives you a great tour of historic Philadelphia?
This place seems appropriate.
The Franklin Fountain.
[bluegrass plays]
♪ Banana split for my baby ♪
-[man] Here's your Classic 1904. -Oh!
Does this count as the pursuit of happiness?
Yeah.
[soul music plays]
Last year, Jeff Gordinier, who you might remember from our Montreal episode,
he picked Kalaya as the best new restaurant in America.
Today, I'm going back with him
and one of the editors of Esquire magazine who he wrote the piece for,
Kevin Sintumuang.
I want you to meet one of the great people in Philadelphia, if not the world,
Chef Nok Suntaranon.
How did it feel to read that you were the number one restaurant in America?
It felt unexpected.
And, let me tell you something, when the article came out
that saved our life. That saved our restaurant.
To hear that it had an impact is incredibly gratifying.
-[Nok] Huge. -That means so much, yeah.
-[Phil] That's wonderful. Whoa! -[Kevin] Look at this.
I'm actually really happy for you because you get to have your mind blown right now.
-This is… [speaks Thai] -[Phil] Little bite-size things.
[Phil] Oh! What's that?
The bird dumpling.
Bird dum… So… Oh yes, look.
-[Phil] Oh my God, is that sweet! -[Jeff] Isn't that incredible?
[Phil] Look at that.
[Phil] Look at the work that goes into this.
This is a person who is taking every single dumpling
and crimping the sides so it looks like the feathers of a bird
and then makes the little neck
and then makes the little beak out of a tiny piece of red pepper
and then the little seeds that they use as the eyes.
This is labor-intensive stuff.
Oh my God.
It's not God, Phil. It's me.
-I did this. It's not God. -[Jeff and Kevin chuckle]
I deserve the credit.
-Maybe you're God. -[Nok laughs]
[Phil] Is that the sweetest thing ever?
[Richard and Nok chuckle]
-Have you ever had dumplings like these? -No.
It feels like I'm in a palace
and they're serving me, like, the king's favorites.
My customers, they deserve it. They deserve to have this in Philly.
Is it worth a trip to Philadelphia? Yeah.
[upbeat jazz plays]
Are you ready?
-I am ready. Tell us what's what. -Yeah.
-[Nok] This is called massaman curry. -[Phil] Yeah.
[speaks Thai]
[Phil] Oh, you've got the purple yam in there.
-Yes-- -You like purple and blue, don't you?
-I love color. -Me too.
This is the curry that's one of my mother's signatures.
-And it's really hard to make. -[Kevin] So good.
[Nok] It is good, right?
I mean, you know you're in an exceptional restaurant
when this is the soup.
[lively drumming]
Do you have a dramatic dish we could put on the table?
[Nok] Um, not so much.
Holy moly.
[all chuckle]
-And this is tom yum. -[Nok] Tom yum Kalaya.
-Oh, you're kidding. This is soup. -This is like no tom yum you've ever had.
No. Usually, these guys sit it out.
[Jeff] Yeah. No, this is--
[all laugh]
Let me serve you. So, in the broth there is lot of herbs
and mushroom and barramundi.
Wow.
[Jeff] Oh my gosh.
This is just the best.
This is amazing soup.
-[server] May I set this down? -[Kevin] Oh yeah.
[Phil] Anything you want.
[Nok] It's the toasted beef curry.
-This one is the killer, isn't it? -This is the killer.
-Did you have this last time? -[Kevin] Yeah, it's one of my favorites.
-It's-- -[Jeff] She didn't hold back.
I mean, this is way up there.
-This is near the top of the spicy plates. -[Nok] It's complex.
Oh yeah.
Is it there yet?
[chuckles]
I… [coughs]
I have to do this because I don't want to show…
[chuckles] …my… my…
my brains come out my nose.
[all chuckle]
Hey, Google. Video call Raymond.
[cell phone chimes]
There he is. Oh my God.
[Raymond] Hello.
Is it possible you're getting even better looking?
Yes, because I started from a very low place.
[both laugh]
I'm in Philadelphia. Look at me go.
You know what's good in Philadelphia? The soft pretzel.
What about the cheesesteak?
I ate my body weight in cheesesteak.
-Did you? -It was unbelievable.
-Look what I brought! -Oh. Isn't that nice?
Look, people.
That's my dad and Phil's dad on the set of Everybody Loves Raymond.
Well, tell the people a couple of your father's great lines just from life.
-Uh, boy. I don't know if I can repeat it. -[chuckles]
When answering machines existed,
he found out how to play back my answering machine
from calling up. You know, "Boop, boop, boop."
And it would play back my messages and he would listen,
and then he would leave a message on mine, you know, like,
"Hey, Anna,
your girlfriend Linda went to the doctor today."
-"She wants you to call her," like that. -[chuckles]
'Cause he thought it was funny.
[chuckles] It is a little funny.
And I kind of thought it was funny, and my wife did not think it was funny.
And she was like, "That's like reading our mail," blah, blah, blah.
And I told my dad,
I go, "Dad, I know it's funny."
"I know you're being silly, but she…" [mimics grumbling]
-[chuckles] -"Okay, all right, whatever."
And then the next thing he did was,
he learned from his phone he could hit the buttons "Boop, boop, boop,"
and change our outgoing message.
[laughing]
So when my wife… We were outside the house,
and my wife called to hear our messages, and instead of hearing my voice
she hears my father's voice say,
"Hi. You've reached Ray and Anna. They're not here."
"You can leave a message."
"If you want me, Al Romano, I'm at 2-6-8-2-0…" yeah, yeah.
-[laughs] -And, um, my wife literally cried.
[Phil laughs]
Yeah.
She was so mad.
So, Raymond, you know, we do this thing where we have a joke for Max.
Have you thought about it?
Yes, well, I have a joke not only for Max…
Yeah.
…but, if I'm not mistaken with my memory, I think I heard it from Max.
Oh great.
So, Mr. Greenberg wakes up, uh, in the emergency room.
And the doctor tells him, "Mr. Greenberg, you had a car accident."
"The good new is you're fine."
"The bad news is we couldn't save… your…"
I'll clean it up, "your… your privates."
"We couldn't save them, but…
there is some more good news."
"We can reconstruct."
[Richard chuckles]
"We understand you're gonna receive $9,000 from the insurance company."
Uh…
"Which will come in handy 'cause it's $1,000 an inch to reconstruct."
Yep.
He goes, "Now, you may want to spend the whole nine."
"That's probably a conversation you should have with your wife, maybe."
"There's no rush."
"On the other hand, you may want to spend 4,000 or 5,000."
"That's another conversation."
"Go home, talk it over, come back when you're ready."
So he leaves, and a week later, he comes back in the office…
to the doctor's office, and he comes in,
and the doctor says, "Mr. Greenberg, good to see you."
"Did you talk it over with your wife?"
He says, "I did."
He says… The doctor says, "And what did you decide?"
He says, uh, "We're getting granite countertops."
[Phil and Richard laugh]
-[chuckles] All right. -Thank you, Raymond.
-You made the show. -I'll see you, man.
-You made the show. -All right.
-Bye-bye. -Bye.
[soft music plays]
[Phil] My trip to Philadelphia is ending in style
with a feast at one of the best restaurants in America,
Michael Solomonov's incredible Zahav.
And everybody's here. Cristina and her husband Ben,
Marc, Jeff, Kevin, Nok, Shola,
Joe Beddia, even Monica and her family.
Her sister Jen and her brother Steve.
This is a great group.
Hi. Welcome.
A toast to the beautiful people I've met on my trip.
-[Nok] Thank you for having us. -[Phil] Some of my favorite chefs ever.
-[Jeff] Cheers. -Cheers to everyone down there.
[Michael] Cheers, everybody.
This is Michael Solomonov, in case you didn't know.
-Hey, guys. How are you guys? -Oh, hi.
Wow, what a really, like, chill table over here.
-Isn't it nice? -[Michael] Can we get some more VIPs?
[all laugh]
'Cause my team isn't scared enough.
-Thanks. They shouldn't be scared. -We're so happy to have you guys.
Nobody's more appreciative than other chefs, right?
[Michael] This is the best.
-Monica's tough, though. -Oh yeah, very tough.
Thank you, guys, so much for coming. Bete'avon or bon appétit.
We got some hot laffa here. You can just rip it apart.
-[Phil] Hot laffa. -Roll up your sleeves.
-That was the name of my first album. -[Marc] Nothing wrong with hot laffa.
Yeah. Jeff has that tattooed on his neck.
"Hot laffa." I don't know if he's shown you yet.
What did you call it when you wipe the hummus? You had a name for it.
[Michael] You actually wipe it. So, when you say in Hebrew,
"You want to eat some hummus with me?" You say… [speaks Hebrew]
Which means, "Do you wanna wipe some hummus with me?"
-So that's it. You're a pro. -Yes!
So you wipe the hummus.
We've got twice-cooked eggplant that Nok's got.
We've got beets with tahina and then our hummus tahina.
All right, so enjoy.
When I opened the restaurant, the support that I had from the community,
Mike, from everybody, is just amazing.
-Yeah, we're like… right-- -Neighbors. [chuckles]
She'll come over at seven o'clock at night and she'll be like, "Chef!"
-[Nok chuckles] -Is that right?
-"I have some food for you." -What?
She'll bring us 18 things. I'm like, "Oh my God."
-Oh my God. See, that's community. -Yeah.
This is a community, yeah.
So, we got eggplant barbecued with zhug, which is a Yemenite chili paste.
Yes.
-[Michael] And on top-- -Oh! What, are you ironing it?
-Yeah. And we're gonna sort of-- -[chuckles]
[Nok] Where do you get this tiny thing?
You know what? I take care of laundry for everybody.
[group chuckles]
And what we're doing is burning a little bit of the garlic
and the ginger and the cardamom in there as well.
You're a showman, Michael. You're a showman.
Guys, leave your pants here. I'll take care of it.
[group laughs]
Yeah, I might have to.
[Michael] You know, Phil, I actually need your help for this last course, all right?
Yes, he was afraid things were going too well.
-[Michael laughs] -So he needs me to help.
[Monica] Oh, Philip.
-[Michael] You got it? -Yeah.
[Michael] Okay, here we go.
[Phil] Ladies and gentlemen, may I present one of my favorite dishes in the world.
This is his lamb shoulder…
-[Nok] And you cooked this? -…with molasses…
-[Monica] Bravo. -…and pomegranate.
-Oh my goodness. -[Jeff] Wow.
[Phil] This is when I fell in love with Michael.
-[group laughs] -[Michael] Excuse me, guys.
-And I approve. -[Marc] Wow.
Oh, and this is… You do this. You do this.
[Phil] Yes.
[Marc] I'm going in.
[Monica] This is good.
-[Nok chuckles] Are you dancing? -This is so good.
-[Phil] Monica. Come on. -[Jeff] Wow.
[rock music plays]
[Phil] Community really is the name of the game in Philadelphia.
To me, that's always meant family.
And, with friends old and new here,
what are friends but the family you choose?
And sometimes ride.
So, Mr. WC Fields, save your tombstone,
because I'd rather be in Philly than a lot of other places.
One thing's for sure, I know I'll eat well.
In all the shows we've done,
I think I've eaten more this week in Philadelphia
than in any other city in the world.
-[Phil] Michael! -[group cheers]
[Michael] Thank you, guys, so much.
This means everything to me.
I love you guys. I love this city.
-[Phil] Yes. -I love this city.
-I f****** love this city so much. -Don't curse!
-Sorry. -[group laughs]
It's Philly. We're trying to keep it real.
[theme song plays]
♪ Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-♪ Somebody ♪ -♪ Somebody please, somebody please ♪
♪ Can somebody ♪
♪ Somebody feed Phil ♪
♪ Oh, please, somebody ♪
♪ Somebody feed Phil ♪
♪ Somebody feed him now ♪