Philip Rosenthal

“I'm not Andrew Zimmern, who is like a superhero to me. I'm not Anthony Bourdain, who was a superhero to me.”

“Most restaurant people work much harder physically, on a daily basis, than most entertainers. Though most people in entertainment complain more.”

“I'm trying to make connections. That's all we do as human beings on the planet, isn't it? We try to connect.”

“You can't kill people if you're eating and laughing with them.”

“I feel like the world would be a better place if more people experienced a little bit of someone else's experience.”

“Most people enjoy other people. Most people are human beings first. And affiliated with political parties second.”

“I am a terrible chef; I'm not a good cook. I don't have the talent, the patience, the desire even to cook the way these great artists that I meet around the world cook, and I'm very, very happy to support them. I invest in restaurants because I love them so much.”

“I don't have the talent, the temperament, or the patience to be a great chef. I'd much rather order from someone who can really do it. I love restaurants. They make my life better.”

“Takeout is a way to explore different lands and different cultures just by sitting in your home and ordering. I mean, there couldn't be an easier way to explore and I would advise people in this terrible time that this is a great form of entertainment to experience what's around you.”

“I didn't know what I was going to get. You never do, when you're filming something for real.”

“When you're first starting a show, any show, you learn what works and what doesn't work, and it's a kind of trial and error thing.”

“A good restaurant is like a vacation; it transports you, and it becomes a lot more than just about the food.”

“If you're in the writer's room, in any writer's room in the world, before you pitch a joke or suggest an idea, you first think it's funny and decide to say it out loud. The next step is for the people around you to accept it or reject it, before it ever sees the light of day, on film or in front of an audience.”

“A puppy is the ultimate distraction.”

“So, I've got to have food, I've got to have humor. But these things are just the way in to what the show's really about, I think, which is connecting with the people.”

“We live life in restaurants, its the center of social life, where we celebrate with family and friends, make new friends, travel without traveling, and of course, eat.”

“I guess I happen to have one of those faces that just says everything I'm thinking. I guess it's a gift, but I see it as a potential liability. It keeps me honest.”

“If I'm trying to get you to travel by showing you the best places in the world to eat, I think enthusiasm goes a long way. Especially because I'm not a chef, I'm not an expert. I'm a tourist like you.”

“I think I have the perfect level of fame. 99% of the time, I'm a normal person. But once a day someone comes up to say hello, and it's beautiful.”

“That's the secret to anything we write. You have to bring your experience to it. Otherwise, how do you expect anyone else to connect to it?”