00:00Hello there, I'm Phil. And I'm Lily. And you are watching Life Minute TV.
00:07Everybody loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal and his daughter Lily have
00:12their plates full. The warm and funny duo have just come out with their latest
00:16children's book and recently opened a diner in LA. They stopped by the Life
00:21Minute studios recently to tell us all about it and more. This is a Life Minute
00:25with Phil and Lily Rosenthal. Phil and Lily Rosenthal in the house. Welcome to Life Minute.
00:32Thank you for having us. We're so excited to have you guys. Thank you. We are here for our little
00:37book
00:37tour for our new book, Just Try It Someplace New, out tomorrow. Our second book. Yes, it's so great.
00:44I read it. It's really sweet. Thank you. Yes, your second book, follow-up to the bestseller,
00:49first one. Yeah. What inspired these books and this one in particular? Well, I told
00:55my dad, he has this great food travel show. I think maybe you would assume it's meant for adults
01:01that want to learn about places to travel. But we've noticed that we were getting a ton of reactions
01:09and videos sent to us of these little kids imitating him. The dances that he does, the funny faces that
01:17he makes when he takes a bite of food. It's very insulting. And we decided, okay, what if you did
01:26something in the kids space that's just meant for kids? Because they love you. You should do that. And
01:31he said, okay, I'll do that, but only if you'll do it with me. And so we decided to write
01:37a kids book
01:38together. And now this is our second one. And we love doing it. It's so fun. That's so great and
01:43so
01:43sweet. And Someplace New. Why Someplace New? What prompted this one? Well, the first book was Just Try
01:49It about a dad who eats everything and his little girl who wouldn't eat anything. And then because
01:55that was successful, we're now doing a series of books. And we thought Just Try It applies to
02:01everything in life, especially for kids. They have to try things for the first time through their
02:08lives. So we thought, what's the next thing they could try? What about someplace new? Going someplace
02:14other than their home? So we thought, what's the first place a kid travels to and maybe stays over
02:20for the first time? We thought at grandma's house. Yeah. Right? Oh, yep. Yeah. Did that ring home?
02:26Obviously the first one, because is it true you were a picky eater? So, all right.
02:31We fabricated a little bit. I won't lie. I was more of the picky eater, actually, when I was little.
02:36Yeah, yeah. But Lily was always pretty great. I did like to try things, but the idea came because
02:42what if you were a picky eater and you had this man as your father? There would just be so
02:49much
02:49back and forth. So much pressure to try things. He just gets so excited by food. So you got to
02:57try
02:57things, right? And what about this one? Yeah. Was that like real life? Did you go to grandma's
03:03when you were little? I loved grandma's house. I loved staying with my grandparents in New York.
03:08They just made it so cozy and warm and I just loved it so much. But again, it was just
03:14the thought of
03:15what if I was nervous to go there? And maybe I was the first time when I was very, very
03:20little. Maybe
03:21I just don't remember. But I loved it there so much. Our greatest fear is the unknown, right? And that
03:26especially applies to kids. But I know a lot of grownups too. They don't want to try new foods.
03:32They don't want to try going to new places. They don't want to try new ideas. So these books are
03:39designed for parents to read to their kids. And we make them funny and entertaining because if
03:44they're not, nobody's reading your book. But I think a good kid's book transcends just being for
03:51children. And the parents get a little message too. Absolutely. It's so true. And the illustrations
03:56are beautiful too. Luke Flowers. Luke Flowers, our great illustrator. He did our first book. He's done
04:03this book. We just love Luke. He does such an incredible job of really capturing feeling
04:09and expression. And he uses color in such a great way. And we just love working with him.
04:16And you guys are on tour. Yeah. What's next? Where are you headed?
04:20We have New Jersey tonight. We have Charleston, two events in Charleston the next couple of days,
04:26and then Orlando and then Los Angeles. Wow. Back home.
04:29Very exciting. The best thing for me is I get to do it with my daughter.
04:32Yeah. That's nice. Yeah. What's it like working with him?
04:35It's so fun. I learned everything about writing and storytelling from him. So now to do it with him
04:42and have him as my co-author, that's a dream come true. That's awesome. So lucky.
04:48What else are you guys up to? We have a new family diner in Los Angeles. It's called Max and
04:54Helen's. And I run it with my husband, Mason. Congratulations. You're just married.
04:59Yes. See that rock land. Yes. Thank you.
05:03It's so much fun. And, you know, it's just my dad's dream to have a diner. And we, my husband
05:10and I, we wanted to make it happen. So we're working all together.
05:13But it's the manifestation of everything I've loved in life. All there together at one family,
05:19friends, food, travel, laughs. It's all manifested in this little hug of a diner.
05:24Beautiful. Yeah. What is it about food that is so, I'm Italian, so I get it. You know,
05:28food is love for us. What, what is it that? Yeah. I think it's the great connector.
05:34Everywhere you travel, people got to eat. And if you and I are going to have a meeting,
05:40let's say, and we don't know each other, I'm going to suggest eating because at least we're
05:45on common ground. We all know how to eat. We all love to eat. So I say food is the
05:50great connector
05:51and then laughs of the cement. That's good. Right? Yeah. What's your favorite foods?
05:56Oh my God. Only everything. Yeah. Top of my mind, because we're having it later, is Peking duck.
06:05And it's great in New York. And pizza. And we're having pizza later too.
06:09So excited for both. Favorite things. But I love the comfort food. People ask me all the time,
06:15what would my last meal be? And I think it would be like diner food. I think it would be
06:19hot dogs and burgers and fries and, you know, chocolate cake and matzo ball soup and just the
06:25comfort food. So the diner or a little diner called Max and Helen's named after grandma and
06:31grandpa. It's just a return to that. And it's just a good version of those things. And the show,
06:37the podcast. Naked Lunch. Do you do any there at the diner? The podcast at the diner? We haven't
06:43yet. You know why? It's very crowded and noisy there. Very loud. It's a small diner. Right.
06:48Yeah. But on Naked Lunch, my co-host David Wild and I, we talk to great people and we feed
06:57them. We have lunch. And they're not naked. So everybody wins.
07:06I am Phil. Beautiful lady. I'm like Oprah. You get a shrimp and you get a shrimp.
07:15Somebody Feed Phil is the show that's been on Netflix for eight seasons. We're their longest
07:20running unscripted show. Are you doing any new ones? I hope so. I'm waiting to hear. Yeah.
07:25Yeah. You never know. Cool. Yeah. Oh yeah. But I want to do it for the rest of my life.
07:30Well, once it's there, it's kind of there for the rest of your life and it just keeps coming
07:33and it never goes away. And your husband's a chef too. Yes. Great chef. I did that because
07:39I love my father. I win again.
07:44No, I am so lucky. It's my biggest piece of advice I can give to people is always marry
07:52a chef because your life will be so much better. Right. It is.
07:57Or have your kids marry a chef. Oh, right. Yeah. Or that. It's so much fun. He's such a talent.
08:02And now we, we get to run this diner together. It's just a dream come true. My dream now is
08:08to
08:09just keep opening restaurants with him. That's awesome. But it's not like the show chef. Is it
08:14like, is he like crazy? Oh no, he's not crazy. He's very calm and he's very, he's serious in the
08:21kitchen. He knows exactly what he needs and he's very direct, but he's such a warm person and he's
08:28so funny and he's just the sweetest boy. So it's so nice to have the, the balance, you know?
08:35I love it. So it's a myth. Not all chefs are crazy. Yeah.
08:39Where did the love of food come from? From me, you mean? Yeah.
08:43Well, I didn't grow up with great food, to be honest. Mom made one good thing,
08:47matzo bowl soup. It's on the menu. Yeah. But I found the joy of food when I left the house,
08:54especially when I traveled, when I went to Europe for the first time as a, as a 23 year old,
08:59I had a baguette and some cheese in Paris and I was like, I never tasted anything so fantastic,
09:04just simple things, but like done the best you've ever had. And then I went to Italy from there and
09:09kaboom. And so that love, it was tied into travel, the food, you're literally taking in the culture
09:17and meeting the people who enjoy it and make it even. So I don't know, it just became,
09:23oh, this is what life's about. That's kind of become how we travel. We, we focus it around the
09:31food. When we take a family trip, the thing that's planned out are the meals. Everything else just
09:36falls into place around the meals. Yeah. But the, the meals come first. I love it. I love it. Can
09:43you
09:43guys cook? No, no. But again, that's why you marry a chef. What's your favorite cocktail?
09:50Ooh, I love an extra dirty Hendrix martini. Wow. That's my favorite. Very nice plug for the
09:58Hendrix. Yeah. I love Hendrix. That's nice. I like anything with tequila. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. You kind
10:06of like just like neat. I love Mexican food. I do. Oh, a nice sipping tequila. Great. Yeah. But I
10:13love, uh, Paloma is nice. Oh yeah. I love, I love, yeah. Yeah. Tequilas, mezcals. That's my
10:20nice. Oh yeah. Drink of choice. Love it. Love it. But I also love a chocolate egg cream. So
10:26of course I have to ask her about your mom, Monica Horn. Yes. Of course, Amy Barone,
10:30Robert's wife. I've loved her for you. She's fantastic. Thank you. We like her too. What does she
10:34think of the books? Oh, she loves it. I think it's, it's nice for her to, to see
10:40us in action together. It's really sweet. You know, we should put her in the next book.
10:45Let's put her in the next book maybe. And maybe Ben too, my brother. It's going to be called
10:49Just Try Divorce. Oh, horrible. No? That's a terrible joke. I'm very sorry. What is your
10:56secret to last in so long? You've been married a long time. I have a travel show. No. Sense
11:02of humor. Yeah. Absolutely. We've been married 36 years together, 40 years. Wow. Right? Four
11:09years of sin. But I know it's a sense of humor. She's super funny and sweet and loving and great.
11:18And so I'm the luckiest guy in the world. Oh, that's awesome. And I have to ask you about
11:23everybody loves Raymond. I saw the anniversary show, which we mentioned before, which is amazing.
11:28Love doing that. All our lives changed so much. We laughed so hard every day. On the air, 30
11:39years. Crazy. And it's still going strong, so. Syndication. We love it. What do you think
11:46it is about that show that just stands the test of time and so iconic and it will be forever?
11:51I think it's because you're focused on characters, you know? They're not topical jokes. They're
12:00family relationships. That'll never change. That is always what surrounds you. So he did
12:09a very smart thing by finding the humor in everyday life. And that's what people resonate with.
12:17Everybody has that mother-in-law. Everybody has that piece of luggage that the husband won't move. Like,
12:24that is just quintessential family dynamics, you know? And that never goes out of style.
12:31She's good. She answers. Very good. She's been paying attention. Yeah. But we wanted to make it
12:37relatable. People say, you were listening outside my house last night and I didn't have to because I
12:42was listening inside my house. If you work for me, your job was to go home, get in a fight
12:48with your
12:48spouse and come back in and tell me about it. So that's where all the stories came from. 90%
12:53of the
12:54stories on Raymond happened to me or to Ray or to one of the other writers. How did it come
12:58to be?
12:59I met Ray on a blind date where they set up comedians. They want to do a show for him
13:03and they look for writers who can create a show for the comedian. And as a writer, you're looking for
13:09the comedian. So we met at a deli in Los Angeles and he told me about his family. He didn't
13:17know
13:17that that would be a show, but I said, I think there's a show there. And what I didn't know
13:21about
13:21the personalities in his family, I filled in with the personalities from my family.
13:27What was it like for you growing up with that?
13:29She grew up on the set.
13:30Yeah, it was just the best. After school, you'd go to the soundstage and you'd see all your friends.
13:35But it wasn't just me. It was all the actors and the crew, like all their kids were always around
13:41too. It was a very family friendly set. And that was just unreal. I think that it shaped a lot
13:49of
13:49why I pursued acting for so long and writing for so long. And it was just in the realm of,
13:59you know, what I grew up with. And I just loved it so much.
14:03It's a sweet world to be a part of. And again, we're very, very lucky. The show was about a
14:09family,
14:10made for families. And very soon after we started, it was being made by a family.
14:15Beautiful. Congratulations.
14:16Thank you. Thank you so much.
14:19Thank you so much.
14:20Love being here.
14:21Bye.
14:22Love it.
14:23To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast, Life Minute TV on iTunes and all streaming podcast
14:28platforms.
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