John Lithgow has played a cardinal, serial killer, prime minister, alien and president. But the role I know him best in is as a great friend. John is currently living in London, playing Roald Dahl in Giant to rave reviews. I’ve seen it three times. We met at The River Cafe on Father’s Day, to talk about acting and food, theatre and food, film and food, family and food. And of course, friendship and food. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 30, 2025•36 min•Season 4Ep. 37
In this special bonus episode, I take you 'behind the scenes' with The River Cafe's executive chefs Sian Owen and Joseph Trivelli, talking about a busy Sunday lunch for Father’s Day, how to make the perfect pesto, and why DOP basil is so special. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 25, 2025•16 min
From the moment Rose and I thought about doing The River Café, Rose made it clear that everything she knew, she had learned from Keith McNally, a hero of restaurants — with The Odeon, Pastis, Balthazar, Lucky Strike to name a few. Keith is here with me today to talk about friends, family, writing a book and most of all ‘regretting almost everything’. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 23, 2025•31 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Nili Lotan is not only a brilliant designer, and an entrepreneur. A woman with strong values she has held onto since starting her own fashion company, she advocates for peace, she supports women and working mothers. She and I both believe that great design, whether food or fashion, is about simplicity, precision, and timelessness. We talk about food and architecture, food and politics, food and family, food and fashion. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/liste...
Jun 16, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 35
In The River Cafe, we like a question. One of the reasons we have an open kitchen is that everything is on view and even our customers ask for tips on how to prepare their favourite meals. This week, Sian Wyn Owen, Joseph Trivelli and I are answering questions you have sent in. When and what to eat, our favourite seasons and much more. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 09, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 34
Looking at all the work Graydon Carter has done over the years, what it would be like to be one of his creations? As Spy magazine, I'd be fearless, funny, ahead of my time, radical and brave. Were I Vanity Fair, I'd be glamorous and erudite. Say I was his restaurant, The Waverly Inn, I'd be delicious, nestled in a beautiful corner of Greenwich Village. As Airmail, I would fly through the air every week, telling everyone what they need to know. And were I one of his five children or his beautiful...
Jun 02, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 33
In this week's bonus, Anthony Scaramucci compares the challenges involved at his restaurant Hunt & Fish Club with Ruthie's at The River Cafe. Plus, he shares some of the items on the underground menu, including the secret meatballs. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 28, 2025•6 min•Season 4Ep. 32
In my career, I've been a chef, an author and now a podcaster. In Anthony Scaramucci’s career, he’s been Communication Director in the White House, a financial genius, founding Sky Capital, and the host of the podcast The Rest is Politics: US. We’ve both had our ups and downs. His may have been higher ups and maybe downer downs, but we're not here to compete. We're here to talk about food, politics, family and memories. To date, I've only spent about 10 minutes with Anthony, but it doesn't feel ...
May 26, 2025•41 min•Season 4Ep. 32
In this bonus episode, Cate Blanchett and Ruthie reflect on the similarities between a theatre performance and a restaurant kitchen. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 21, 2025•3 min•Season 4Ep. 31
People ask me who my dream guest would be on Ruthie‘s Table 4. Cate Blanchett has always been top of the list - an actor, director and vocal activist for values and ideas close to my heart. Cate lives with purpose in the countryside in East Sussex, keeping bees, growing vegetables in her garden, cooking and eating seasonally. Here we are at The River Cafe on the beautiful first day of summer weather. The sun is shining, the chefs are cooking and the garden is flowering. Cate and I are going to t...
May 19, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 31
Dana Strong, CEO of Sky Group, is one of the busiest people I know. One of the most powerful people in global media, she leads a team of thousands across news, sport, film, and television. But somehow, Dana always makes time for talking, friendship, her family, and for me. One of the most special things for me is breakfast with Dana at my home, at the kitchen table, sharing toast, coffee and stories. Our mutual friend Tim Davies, Director General of the BBC, told me this morning that she's a rar...
May 12, 2025•39 min•Season 4Ep. 30
When I think of Richard E. Grant, of course I think of his brilliant films and him as a great actor. But what I really think of is Richard and his wife Joan in the early days of The River Cafe. They were married a year before the restaurant opened and lived right across the river, coming in for lunch, always sitting at the same table, warm, lovely and absorbed in each other. I remember their daughter Olivia being born a few years later and them bringing her in as a baby, when the restaurant was ...
May 05, 2025•43 min•Season 4Ep. 29
Alison Loehnis and I have much in common — we’re two American women living abroad, we both adore the small seaside towns of Liguria, and we share a favourite bookstore: Heywood Hill in Mayfair. Alison grew up in Manhattan with a mother who was a passionate cook. She discovered the joy of food and fashion early on—licking brownie spoons next to her mother and elegantly accessorising her school uniform. She channelled her ambition into a dynamic career spanning Saatchi & Saatchi, Disney, LVMH,...
Apr 28, 2025•46 min•Season 4Ep. 28
One of the questions I’m often asked is where and when did you meet Sir Jony Ive, the person whose designs changed the world? We met at the White House at a spectacular state dinner when Barack Obama was president and hope was in the air. It was the beginning of one of the most important friendships I have. Jony’s designs for Apple with Steve Jobs transformed the way we live. On my wrist is the Apple Watch, counting my steps and checking my heartbeat. Today, my friend is not 5,000 miles away but...
Apr 21, 2025•29 min•Season 4Ep. 27
A few months ago, my friend David Chipperfield, the Pritzker and Stirling Prize-winning architect, asked me to support the work his foundation is doing on the food markets in Galicia. So here I am, in north-west Spain, to talk with him in front of an audience for a special live event. David's introduction to Galicia was 33 years ago on a visit to Corrubedo, a small seaside village, where he and his wife Evelyn created a home. Now they have a small bar in the middle of the village. David is as pa...
Apr 14, 2025•33 min•Season 4Ep. 26
In 2018, the River Cafe opened a second restaurant at the Frieze Art Fair in Regent’s Park. It was only for a few days and not something we would think of doing, but we said yes for three reasons. Because art is food and food is art. Because Frieze is the greatest art fair in the world. And most of all, because of our friendship and deep admiration for the founders, Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover. Friends of Amanda will tell you she is curious about the world and the people around her. She sa...
Apr 07, 2025•36 min•Season 4Ep. 25
In this bonus episode, writer-director Rian Johnson tells Ruthie about the time he infused ice cream with tobacco, as well as debating the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 03, 2025•5 min•Season 4Ep. 24
My friend Glenn Close brought Rian Johnson to the River Cafe when they were filming Wake Up Dead Man, the third Knives Out movie. For the rest of the summer, he was what we call a regular. Yesterday, sending me photos of her new grandson, these were Glenn’s words: ‘Working with Rian is the highlight of my career. He wrote a great script, cast an amazing stable of actors and set us on a sublime adventure together. Rian is a master storyteller who makes work both serious and wildly fun. I am honou...
Mar 31, 2025•36 min•Season 4Ep. 24
In this bonus episode, record-setting ocean rower Angus Collins talks about salsa verde, the emotional toll after completing a crossing, and the food he looks forward to most when stepping back on dry land. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 27, 2025•4 min•Season 4Ep. 23
Angus Collins has been hailed as the greatest ocean rower of our time, setting records for the fastest and youngest four man crossing of any ocean. He's rowed across the Atlantic not once, but twice, and faster than anyone before him. And he's not finished yet. In a few months, Angus is aiming to be the first to row solo and unsupported around Great Britain. But today he isn't going anywhere. He's here at the River Cafe to talk about endurance, motivation, mental health, his love for the sea, an...
Mar 25, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 23
In this bonus episode of Ruthie's Table 4, BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated director Luca Guadagnino discusses pasta and the diversity of Italian food from different regions. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 20, 2025•7 min•Season 4Ep. 22
What I know about Luca Guadagnino is, of course, the films he's made. But what I know from Luca is how passionate he is about food. Friends tell me Luca has three kitchens at his home in Piemonte, including one elaborately equipped for pastries, and a special room for keeping vinegar and dried herbs from his garden. Food not only plays a strong role in his home life, but an important role in his films, conveying sensuous desire and transformation. We're here today, in the one kitchen I have in m...
Mar 18, 2025•45 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Whenever I'm with Bella Freud, which isn't often enough, I always wish I could see more of her. Bella and I share the same social values and beliefs, and we pursued careers which are both fleeting but lasting: She is in fashion, and I'm in food. A meal is a moment, and an outfit changes daily. In our early years, Bella's father, Lucian Freud, came almost every day to The River Cafe. When with Bella, we were told never to interrupt, as this was their precious time. Now when Bella comes with her f...
Mar 11, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 21
People often say they'd be too nervous to cook a meal for me, so imagine how I feel interviewing Alastair Campbell, co-host of The Rest Is Politics, one of the UK's top podcasts. Alistair is a journalist, author, broadcaster, and defining political figure of our time. I've known him since the early days of New Labour, where he was Director of Communications and Strategy at the heart of it all. He's also been a prominent mental health activist and joins me today in The River Cafe to talk about fo...
Mar 04, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 20
The Oscars are only a few days away and Ruthie’s Table 4 is excited. Ralph Fiennes, Zoe Saldaña and Elton John - three Ruthie’s Table 4 guests - are nominated for Academy Awards, and we’re revisiting their interviews in this episode. Ralph is nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his brilliant performance in Conclave. Elton for Best Original Song for ‘Never Too Late’ from the documentary about his life of the same name. Zoe Saldaña is nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for ...
Feb 28, 2025•38 min
Erling Kagge is one of the world's great explorers - a man whose life embraces solitude. That is, when he‘s not being attacked by a polar bear… thankfully, he lived to tell the tale. He is the first person to reach, by foot, the North Pole, South Pole, and Mount Everest. Erling and my life might be dissimilar, but we share a love for the unknown. For him, it might be a new horizon. For me, a discovery of a little-known Sicilian recipe. Today, we're here on our own adventure, not on the top of a ...
Feb 25, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 19
In Francis Ford Coppola (Part 2), we discuss the origins of pizza, his experience eating lambs’ brain as a child, and how a loophole during America’s prohibition led to Francis buying the Inglenook winery with his earnings from The Godfather. We both bought in bottles of his wine to taste - a lovely way to begin and to continue a conversation. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 18, 2025•31 min•Season 4Ep. 18
When Francis Ford Coppola agreed to do a podcast with me, good friends who know us both said “actually Ruthie, the two of you are rather alike”. Did they mean being a Chef is like being a Film Director? Or producing a movie is like running a restaurant? Or is choosing the grapes for your vineyard is like choosing the herbs for your fish? Or most of all, did they mean we both have our family involved in everything we do? I'm happy to take any of the above. In part one of my conversation with Fran...
Feb 11, 2025•37 min•Season 4Ep. 17
In this bonus episode of Ruthie's Table 4, Golden Globe-winning actress Zoe Saldaña discusses her love for New York - a melting pot of different foods and cultures. Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 07, 2025•5 min•Season 4Ep. 16
A couple of months ago I discovered a sign on the door to my office, saying ‘Do not disturb.’ Zoe Saldana was inside, changing into her dress for lunch downstairs to celebrate the release of her new movie, Emilia Pérez. Afterwards I walked her to her car, talking about how to make the perfect rice. A few minutes later, we'd agreed to do a podcast together. Since then, I've seen her everywhere, on screens and newspapers, magazines and posters. Last month she won a Golden Globe, and in February an...
Feb 04, 2025•50 min•Season 4Ep. 16
