It started quietly, no cameras, no preparation, no grand moment. Somewhere in the background, after watching a short video on the Road of Hope website showing one of their cooking workshops in Amsterdam Noord, the producers of a Netflix series reached out. Somebody Feed Phil wanted to feature Road of Hope in an upcoming episode spotlighting Amsterdam.
“Gabriela, one of our former coordinators picked up, and it was the producers from a Netflix series,” recalls Patricia Barendregt, founder and director of Road of Hope. “They had found a video on our website of a cooking workshop we hosted for newcomers, one of the many we organize to bring people together and build community. They wanted to film the same experience, in the same place: Credo Café in Amsterdam Noord. We could hardly believe it.”
The result is now live: Somebody Feed Phil Season 8, Episode 1 (Amsterdam), which premiered on June 18 as the opening episode of the new season. Viewers around the world are treated to the signature mix of laughter and appetite that defines Phil Rosenthal’s travelogue. But this time, nestled between bites of stroopwafels and a boat ride helmed questionably by Richard Rosenthal, is something more: a portrait of Amsterdam’s refugee community, told with tenderness and flavor.
This appearance comes at a milestone moment for Road of Hope, which celebrates nine years of activity this month. Since its founding in 2016, the organization has provided space, skills, and solidarity for people fleeing war and persecution. Their workshops, often hosted in local community centers, go far beyond skill-building. They are gatherings of joy, where cooking becomes a language of welcome, and food a bridge between lives uprooted and lives renewed.
The Netflix crew joined Road of Hope in September 2024 for a sushi-making workshop that brought together the unlikely but beautiful combination of Syrian and Latin American participants rolling seaweed and rice in the heart of Amsterdam Noord. It was a moment that captured the very essence of the city: a place where cultures don’t just coexist, they collaborate, creating something new and delicious together. Chefs Tommy and Manni, from the renowned fusion kitchen @kyatcha.ig, led the gathering with warmth and flair. “There was so much fun and beauty in that kitchen,” says Barendregt. “You can feel it in the episode.”
To mark this so special month, Road of Hope is inviting the public to a community screening of the episode that spotlights part of refugee community and brings the vibrant diversity of Amsterdam to screens around the world. The event takes place in the World Refugee Day (June, 20th) at AZC Amsterdam – Willinklaan (Community Café), from 16:00 to 19:00, during Ongewone Ontmoeting (freely translated as “Connecting Worlds”), an event organised by the Municipality of Amsterdam, that is part of a neighbourhood series where strangers become neighbors over shared meals and creative encounters. The event will also feature a live performance by the Partout Orchestra .
And, just to think! It all began with a quiet click on a website video. No one at Road of Hope imagined that a simple cooking workshop, designed to welcome newcomers and foster connection, would resonate far beyond the borders of the city. But that’s the power of community: it speaks in many languages, flavors, and gestures. Sometimes, it even speaks loud enough to reach Netflix.
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by Ana Claudia Luz, journalist freelancer.