Here's every restaurant featured in the Montreal episode of Somebody Feed Phil

Now that everybody's grown tired of talking up Tiger King and Too Hot to Handle on Netflix, it's time to turn to a show that shows some local love: Somebody Feed Phil, a food documentary series starring Philip Rosenthal, dropped its third season on May 29th with Montreal among the five cities.

Thanks to a tour that was arranged by Tourisme Montréal, the 50-minute episode shows Rosenthal visiting some of the biggest names in the city's food scene. "Over the years, Montréal has earned a reputation as a top-tier food destination," said Yves Lalumière, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal in a press release. "We're delighted to have the opportunity to show off this key aspect of our culture to Netflix subscribers around the world." 

The show opens with a visit to La Boite Aux Huîtres in Jean-Talon Market with Antonio Park before heading into the oft-cited comparison of Montreal to Europe. That quickly shifts to a visit to St-Viateur Bagel in the Mile End. There, Rosenthal discusses some of the differences between New York-style and Montreal bagels with owner Joe Morena, noting that the size of the hole's a pretty straightforward way of distinguishing the two regional varieties, and that Montreal's version is "like a sesame donut."

Afterwards, former food critic for the Montreal Gazette Lesley Chesterman takes Rosenthal on a trip to Ma Poule Mouillée to discuss some of the intricacies around Portuguese chicken and, of course, the restaurant's poutine made with São Jorge cheese, grilled chicken & chorizo. As Chesterman points out—and feel free to take notes on this—poutine must be made of of crispy fries, brown gravy, and squeaky cheese curds, all of which must be layered "like a wedding cake."

The episode then shifts to Meets up with Antonio Park to shop for fish at Poissonnerie La Mer to get equipped for an omakase service. Montrealers can enjoy a small ego boost from how their city is host to place like the restaurant Park (if they haven't before) in how it impresses the well-travelled tastebuds of Rosenthal. “I’m very spoiled," the host says while enjoying his meal. "I’ve been to Tokyo, I live in Los Angeles, I had some of the best sushi on earth. This is as good as anything I’ve ever had, I’m not kidding.”

The next stop's Agrikol to eat griot, malanga croquettes, plantains, jerk chicken and riz au pois with chef Paul Toussaint and rum sours to wash them all down. One of the more salient moment comes from when Toussaint asks Rosenthal what brings him to Montreal. “I’ll tell you why," Rosenthal explains. "People all over the world are here, look at you, and the cuisine is representative (of that). I think culture and countries and cities are better when there’s a huge diverse population. Why? Because then I get to try all the food from around the world in one place.”

After a short, cute sojourn on the swan paddleboats of H20 Adventures on the Lachine Canal, Rosenthal goes to Montréal Plaza to dine with chefs Cheryl Johnson and Charles Antoine-Crête. “I don’t even know how to describe this. There’s a madman here, there’s a few madmen here,” the host notes about his dining companions. The décor and the restaurant's propensity for adding plastic animals and dinosaurs to their dishes gets due mention—“It looks like there’s an FAO Schwarz in the kitchen”—before digging into the food. It doesn't take long for Rosenthal to be blown away by the inventiveness of their work (and having the host covered in popcorn powder by Antoine-Crête's the real highlight of the meal): “This is a crazy place, and the silliness of it should not lull you into thinking this food is not serious. Because it’s serious, and it’s seriously delicious.”

Flash-forward to a morning in Old Montreal and a visit to Olive et Gourmando for blueberry brioche and an egg sandwich, but Rosenthal makes a specific request for the restaurant's Cubano. “It’s phenomenal," Rosenthal says in the episode during a cut-away, "I think—we should go there tomorrow.” Dyan brings in the house ricotta as well, which paints another smile on the host's face between interactions with a child in the café.

No trip to Montreal's complete without visiting Schwartz's, obviously. As Rosenthal interacts with customers and Frank Silva, Schwartz's manager, the difference between Montreal smoked meat and New York City's pastrami and corn beef gets a highlight: “We don’t boil," Silva explains. "We marinate our brisket for 10 days, dry cure it, smoke it for 8 hours, then we steam it and we hand-slice it.”

Finally, the last stop experienced by the host is a trip to Au Pied de Cochon's sugar shack with chef Martin Picard, Au Pied de Cochon co-owner Marc Beaudin, chef Vincent Dion Lavallée and the American restaurant writer Jeff Gordinier. After touring the property's maple farm and pig farm, the "crazy lumberjack riot rave festival" of the main restaurant ensues. After experiencing the massive amounts of food brought to the table, Rosenthal notes that "it bordered on insanity, but I must say everything I had was delicious.” As anyone will attest that experiences the restaurant, "there’s something about chef Martin that wants you to be as gluttonous as you’ve even been in your life,” says Rosenthal.

And that's it: Every restaurant featured in the fifth episode of season three of Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil.

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