FOOD + FRIENDSHIP WITH RUTHIE ROGERS
Ruthie Rogers founded the Michelin-starred The River Café along with her friend and fellow chef Rose Gray in 1987. The pair ran the restaurant together until Gray passed away in 2010; since then Rogers has continued to run it herself.
Alongside being the brains behind one of London’s greatest culinary institutions, Rogers is also the host of Ruthie’s Table 4, her wildly successful podcast (soon to be published as a book). The roster of guests she has interviewed follows the same exceptional quality as her dishes: Francis Ford Coppola, David Beckham and Saoirse Ronan, to name but a few.
Arriving early one morning at the house designed by her husband, acclaimed British-Italian architect Richard Rogers, we’re welcomed with a spread of Prosciutto di San Daniele, mozzarella di bufala and toasted sourdough that Rogers has put out for us. As we chat, friends and the crucial importance of friendship is a theme that regularly recurs. It’s this - alongside a stellar career that, some 40 years in, continues to evolve - that makes Rogers the perfect candidate to launch our Female Voices campaign, a celebration of women to mark International Women’s Day, all in support of Smart Works.
Tell us about your morning routine.
I eat nothing for breakfast. This is what I have for breakfast: an espresso. But were I to, this is what I would love to eat [pointing to the breakfast spread]. I might have this one day for breakfast if some friends are here. Sometimes we have anchovies. I like salt for breakfast.
Espresso downed, what comes next?
I try and do my friend phone calls in the morning when I wake up. Because once the day starts, everybody's working or busy or with children.
I've had a lot [happen] in my life and I think knowing that you have that friendship with people who really mean a lot to you gets you through. Other people might listen to music or put their head under the pillow, but I get great solace from my fabulous friends. I would say I'm the last of the phone callers, but to hear a voice, for me, is irreplaceable.
“I've had a lot happen in my life and that friendship with people who really mean a lot to you gets you through.”
What inspired you to start hosting your own podcast?
Well, I'd always wanted to do a radio station. There was a restaurant in Brooklyn called Roberta's, and they had a radio station, and I thought we could have The River Café radio.
Ruthie's Table 4, the podcast, really grew out of Covid, when the restaurant had to close. We thought, how can we get through to the people who couldn’t come to The River Café? And we thought, well, why don't we just read a recipe a day. And then, of course, we realized that that should segue into a story. And what we became very aware of was that people's food memories are a part of their life.
Mel Brooks is 98 and he can remember the first person who made him pasta when he was seven. Paul McCartney talks about the last recipe his mother taught him before she died. And Nancy Pelosi, who was speaker of the House, would talk about having never eaten a meal until she was 18 without a tablecloth because she came from that kind of family culture from Italy.
If I said to Paul McCartney, let's talk about The Beatles or let's talk to Nancy Pelosi about the U.S. Congress and politics, they might have [said] been there, done that. But then if I say, did your mother cook? Did your father cook? How often did you go to restaurants? It becomes a kind of way of opening up.
When we did the one with Elton John, this woman who has worked with him for 20 years, she said, I've heard every interview that Elton has said and never heard that story about shelling peas with his grandmother. It's become a really wonderful thing to do.
“People's food memories are a part of their life”
How do you choose your guests?
Well, it's quite spontaneous. If you look at the list of people I've had, they come from all different majors and we've been very lucky because a lot of them really love to eat in The River Café, and there’s a personal relationship. I've done very few people who I met for the first time at the interview, so I've sort of known them and I've known them very well.
What's your favorite meal to cook for a friend?
Tomato pasta. It's just known that's what I do! It's just the best thing to eat, very satisfying, very comforting.
What's the secret?
Butter. Don't tell anyone. You don't want to drain the pasta. You get the water out, and then you put it on top of the tomato and just put a bit of butter with the pasta and then toss it together. I always send people away when I do that so they don't see me put the butter! But it is really good. It makes it just a little bit more creamy.
In Support of Smart Works
We’re proud to launch our Female Voices campaign on International Women’s Day in support of Smart Works.
Smart Works is a UK charity that dresses and coaches unemployed women for interview and job success. Since 2013, Smart Works has supported over 45,000 women across 11 centres. In 2025, they will open their 12th centre in Bristol, an evidenced area of need, and by April will be supporting 10,000 women across the UK each year.
To mark our campaign, ME+EM will be donating to Smart Works to support and encourage their incredible work. To learn more about the charity, visit smartworks.org.uk.
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