Clyde Phillips is the executive producer of “Feed the Beast,’’ a new series that debuts Sunday, June 5 on AMC. The show stars David Schwimmer as an alcoholic sommelier who’s mourning the loss of his wife (she was killed in a mysterious hit and run accident), and Jim Sturgess as a rock star chef-coke addict who just got out of prison for arson. Together, the two friends pursue a “mad, impossible dream of opening a high-end restaurant in the Bronx,’’ says Phillips.

Phillips describes the duo as “pioneers’’ because the location of their restaurant is “the final frontier of gentrification’’ in New York City. They face all sorts of obstacles (opening a restaurant is never easy, of course), and Sturgess’s character ends up owing $500,000 to the mob.

Phillips says the show is about “damaged people, broken people.’’

“These are people in pain. These are people with flaws,’’ he said. “There’s always something going on.

The culinary drama is the latest series to be produced by Phillips, who’s come a long way from his days as a kid growing up in Dorchester and made a big name for himself in Hollywood, with credits that include the 1990s sitcom “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose,’’ and the acclaimed Showtime series “Dexter’’ and “Nurse Jackie.’’

Whether “Feed the Beast’’ will enjoy the same success remains to be seen. One thing is for sure: Phillips shares a special connection to the show, because of his father’s ties to the food industry and his dealings with mobsters. “My dad was a bit of a small-time crook,’’ said Phillips. He “was always in trouble.’’

Phillips grew up on Callender Street, a Jewish kid in a racially mixed neighborhood of triple-deckers and two-family homes in Dorchester. He remembers playing ball in his neighborhood, romping through St. Mary’s Cemetery on Bernard Street, and running around Franklin Field.

His father worked as a butcher and brought home $125 a week. Money was tight. As a boy, Phillips worked shining shoes at the G&G Deli on Blue Hill Avenue.

His Little League uniform doubled as a Halloween costume.

Like many other children raised in the inner city, Phillips didn’t know what he was missing. “We just thought this is what life was,’’ he said.

But still he yearned for more: “I looked around as a kid and said, I want a better life.’’

Phillips found that opportunity at Boston Latin School. Phillips said attending the prestigious exam school in seventh grade allowed him “to get out of the misery of where I was, and meet kids who had a sense of purpose.’’ It introduced him to “a whole other world of kids that I didn’t know existed.’’

Boston Latin “changed my life,’’ he said. He took advantage of all that Latin had to offer —the music, the sports, and the rigorous academics. “I needed that challenge.’’

And he thrived. “I found a new way of looking at myself,’’ he said.

Unfortunately, his academic career at Boston Latin School was cut short due to his father’s troubles. When he wasn’t working at the meat market, his father gambled, and losses piled up. His dad found himself owing more and more money, and he was pursued by mobster types seeking to collect on his ever-growing debts. There were threats. Phillips recalls that their phone would ring all night long.

One time his dad came home all banged up; he said he’d been in a car accident. Phillips would learn later on that his father had been beaten up.

His father ultimately decided to relocate his family. They packed their belongings and moved to California.

“We were basically chased out of Boston,’’ said Phillips.

Phillips eventually settled into his home on the West Coast, and went on to attend UCLA and embark on a successful career in show business.

The premiere of his latest series, “Feed the Beast’’ airs Sunday, June 5 at 10 p.m., and then the show will move to its regular Tuesday night time slot. On June 7, an encore of the show’s premiere episode will air at 9 p.m. followed by an all-new second episode at 10 p.m.