Episoder
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Sam Taylor-Johnson is a close friend and director of Back To Black, the story of Amy Winehouse. Checking in with her during filming, she always reassured me it was intense. It was challenging. It was exhilarating. But, the best part was working with Marisa Abela.
One night a few months ago, Sam called me at home to tell me Marisa was in The River Cafe and could we send her a glass of champagne? When I told this to Michael, a friend visiting me from New York, he said, ‘Ruthie, we're not sending her a glass of champagne. We're going there right now to give it to her ourselves'.
This month, Back to Black opened in London. Today, we're here together in The River Cafe and when we’re done we'll have a glass of champagne.
Listen to Ruthie's Table 4: Marissa Abela made in partnership with Moncler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Imagine going to a close friend's birthday, months after the death of your son. Imagine realising it was too soon and telling the man you're talking to who you hardly know, why you need to leave. He takes your arm and insists on seeing you to the lift. Then he goes down with you until you get to the street. This becomes a ten minute walk to the car park. A climb up the stairs, him holding your hand tightly until you find your car. Driving off, you see him in the rearview mirror waving goodbye. I was this woman, and Tom Hollander was this man. And his act of tenderness and compassion has stayed with me for 13 years.
There are many stories about Tom Hollander. The best ones are told by him, not least his life in the day for the Sunday Times, the best in a great series ever written. He is a fantastic actor; White Lotus, Patriots, most recently captivating audiences as Truman Capote in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. He sings beautiful songs to his six month old son. He's passionate about what he cooks and what he eats. Yesterday, he sent me a photograph with no caption of Fran Hickman with a large stainless steel saucepan obscuring her face, drinking the contents.
Imagine, being me in The River Cafe with Tom Hollander on a Tuesday afternoon, talking about memories of food, memories of friendship, family and all his doing. Then imagine how special this feels.
Listen to Ruthie's Table 4: Tom Hollander made in partnership with Moncler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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“Across a garden from where Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and I are sitting, people are having Sunday lunch in The River Cafe. Walking into the room you hear the rise and fall of conversation and laughter, friends and families connecting over food.
At age 37 Vivek was appointed as the youngest Surgeon General of the United States by President Obama and is now serving a second term with President Biden.
During Covid in his gap between terms as Surgeon General, he might have researched illnesses – cancer, heart disease and diabetes but instead he chose what he saw as another epidemic of our time- loneliness.
He is a Surgeon General who sees love as a foundation for good public health. How rare to hear the word love as a solution to a diagnosis. He sees food as an antidote to loneliness, believing loneliness is like hunger and like thirst.
I am privileged today to talk with and listen to the Surgeon General and to hear how as a doctor, a father, a husband a child and now my friend. Food is connection and food is love.”
Listen to Ruthie’s Table 4 in partnership with Moncler – out now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The first time that Sarah Jessica Parker and I spoke, the tables were turned. She was on the phone in The River Cafe kitchen, and I was on a beach in Mexico. It was really hard to hear her with the noise of pots and pans, the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. But her dazzling warmth travelled the 6000 miles. If the phone connection was poor, the friendship connection was instant.
Last month, she was in The River Cafe with her family, and I was there with mine. They were sitting on table one, just a few feet from the pink wood oven close to the drama of the kitchen. And there she was, dazzling and warm. ‘How does all this work, Ruthie? How do you make sure that Matthew's ravioli comes out the same time as my asparagus bagna cauda.’ ‘This kitchen’, she said, ‘feels like the inside of a pinball machine with energy bouncing between the different stations. How do you all have the energy to do both lunch and dinner?’
Now, I suppose if I went backstage to Plaza Suite, the play that Sarah is doing here with her husband, Matthew Broderick, I would have similar questions. ‘How does this work, Sarah? What do you do if someone forgets their lines? And how do you all have the energy to do a matinee and an evening performance?’ Today we're here not miles apart, inches apart. Two friends together, surrounded by all of you great people. What a connection.
Listen to Ruthie’s Table 4: Sarah Jessica Parker in partnership with Moncler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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If you're in politics, being outgoing, engaging and caring is part of the job. And these are the words often used to describe the Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, and first Lady Tammy Murphy. But having been close to Phil and Tammy for as long as I have, I know this is truly who they are.
In 2008, Phil was the finance chair for the Democratic National Committee and as Americans abroad, we supported the presidential campaign for Barack Obama. Phil and Tammy worked day and night traveling to London so often we thought they lived there. Our conversations then were always about society and politics, the sense of public service that runs so deeply in them. Their eyes, though, really lit up when we discussed their four children.
In January, we sat down to have this conversation in the Governor's office in New Jersey; the state is deeply committed to, proud of and loves. And these are actually the very same words I would use to describe how I feel about Phil and Tammy Murphy. Committed, proud, two people I love.
Listen to Ruthie's Table: Governor Phil Murphy & First Lady Tammy Murphy in partnership with Moncler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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There is a well-known cartoon in The New Yorker magazine depicting President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his pyjamas, on his knees next to his bed, saying a prayer for his wife, the most active first lady in history. ‘Dear Lord, please make Eleanor tired tomorrow’. I can imagine the friends and family of Stephen Fry saying the same prayer, for there's very little Stephen doesn't do.
Actor, comedian, television host, director, a prolific writer with four novels, three autobiographies and countless columns in national papers. But should you ask, as I've been doing, the people who know him really well. What Stephen is best at, they will answer, being a friend. As for me, I love this man. All he stands for, and quite simply who he is.
And I would change the FDR prayer. I would say, ‘Dear Lord, we all need Stephen Fry. Please do not make him tired tomorrow’.
Listen to Ruthie’s Table 4: Stephen Fry in partnership with Moncler – out now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Fisher Stevens and I were recently brought close together by one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Philip Guston, and one of the greatest footballers, David Beckham. Last September he was in The River Cafe with the producers of Beckham, the series he directed for Netflix. We agreed to have breakfast at my house and the next morning he arrived.
Walking up the stairs, Fischer stopped at the large pink Guston. It was hard to tear him away as he spoke about the painting and what it meant to him. A half hour turned into more than an hour as we talked about art we looked at, architecture we lived in and food we cooked. We agreed we would continue the conversation on Ruthie's Table 4 when I came to New York.
So here we are, this time in Fischer's house, connected through a love of Beckham, food, film, Guston and each other. Life is good.
Listen to Ruthie’s Table 4: Fisher Stevens in partnership with Moncler – out now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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In a profession that is ever changing and always challenging, Eric Ripert is an inspiration. He's been the chef, and co-owner, of New York's legendary Le Bernardin for more than 30 years. He is a mentor to many, and someone who so many chefs look up to.
Today, I'm here in New York with him at his Michelin three-star temple to fish and seafood, talking about us living in different cities, while cooking the food of different countries. But you know what? We're a lot alike: Two chefs with much to share.
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I’ve known Emily Mortimer since she was six. Her parents were close friends—John, a playwright and barrister, and Penny, a fly fisher and tennis player, who managed the no small feat of smoking while playing the game.
What Emily does now is impressive—she's an actor, a writer, and director, known for such films as Notting Hill, The Pursuit of Love, Newsroom, Match Point, and Apple TV’s latest, The New Look, with Juliette Binoche.
Not that she has only worked onscreen. Emily was one of the first employees of the River Cafe, back in 1989 when being 17 and totally inexperienced was no obstacle to being a waiter.
Together in The River Cafe today we're going to talk about food, memories and cooking a goose while studying in Russia.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Restaurateur Danny Meyer opened Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern in New York more than 30 years ago and proved values matter. One could not only treat staff with the respect they deserve, but make customers happy. Happier, as they say, when they leave than when they arrived. Danny then launched Shake Shack in 2001, a hotdog stand in Madison Park. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, when Ruthie has a question about fair policies for the people who work with her or how to think about expanding or contracting The River Cafe, or whether it would be possible to do exchanges with their best chefs, Danny is the person she calls.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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When Ruthie found herself living in Mexico City for four months in 2018, her regular world of London, work, family and friends became irregular. She was thrust into a city with new people, new language and new food. Then one day someone suggested she meet at Niddo, a small restaurant recently opened by Karen Drijanski and her son Eduardo Plaschinski. From that moment her mornings changed. She went to Niddo almost daily, always to be greeted with a strong embrace from Karen, who would go back to her kitchen and cook the best breakfast: eggs Mexicana, rancheros, tortillas, fresh breads, oatmeal, cheese omelettes, avocado.
Ruthie and Karen kept in touch, but it was only a weeks ago that she returned to Niddo for the first time in four years. And so, here today not from The River Cafe but from a studio in Mexico City, three good friends back in the most beautiful of cities—a warm and irregular world.
Ruthie's Table 4 is made in partnership with Moncler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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When you ask Guy Ritchie to do a podcast, you don't just get Guy Ritchie the director—you get Guy Ritchie the food lover. Before sitting down with Ruthie, there he was in the garden at The River Cafe, setting up his WildKitchen cooking rig to grill a ribeye steak for all the chefs. He then joined Ruthie to talk wine, creative process, how he measures success, fishing, how he cooks his steaks, and bringing the WildKitchen to his film sets.
Ruthie's Table 4 is made in partnership with Moncler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Last Wednesday, 24 hours after being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in ‘Maestro’, Carey Mulligan arrived at The River Cafe. She joined chef Sian Owen in the kitchen to cook scallops, and sat down with Ruthie to discuss her celebrated career and the foods she loves.
Listen to Ruthie’s Table 4: Carey Mulligan in partnership with Moncler.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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When Will Ferrell said he'd be my guest on Ruthie's Table 4, I expected some laughs, some great stories, but not ‘Happy Birthday’ in Swedish. Everyone seems to love Will, whether they worked with him or, of course, watched him on screen in those classic comedies, Elf and Anchorman and many more. We do have a mutual friend, Saturday Night Live creator and producer Lorne Michaels, but we first met last spring when I was invited to a lunch. Now, walking into a lunch party late can be awkward—conversations stop, chairs are adjusted, introductions made. But there I was, seated next to Will and all was right with the world. He was here in London filming Barbie and I was just off to New York, but we promised to continue the conversation. And that’s what we’re doing today, on Table 4.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Today, a Ruthie’s Table 4 first, our first couple interview. Recorded on location in New York, actors Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell join Ruthie to discuss their lives through food. Mathew grew up in Wales eating Cawl and Kerri started her career aged 15 where she had to fend for herself. They now live together with their children in Brooklyn and share a love for sage pasta, travelling through Italy, discovering local restaurants - and most of all a passion for each other.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Mala Goanker, businesswoman, writer and founder of SurgoCap, sits down with Ruthie to discuss her work in public healthcare, growing a farm in Sussex and the science of food in forming memories.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The MoMA is arguably the best museum in the world. Art-historian and director, Glenn Lowry, joins Ruthie to talk about the importance of great food in museums, the recent Ed Ruscha exhibition, and the influence of French cooking on his life.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Bear is the number 1 hit show of 2023. Writer, producer and show-runner, Joanna Calo, joins Ruthie to discuss creating menus for television, growing up with a communal kitchen and the importance of female representation in kitchens on screen.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Trudie Styler, film producer, actress, activist and farmer, joins Ruthie to talk about their shared connection of the food, wine and history of Tuscany.
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Ralph Fiennes, actor, writer, director and one of five children talks to Ruthie about the roles he has played in his long career and the important role food has played in his life. Listen to two good friends talk together.
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