Ruthie's Table 4

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 su...

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, D...

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...

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. &...

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, counti...

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 t...

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 te...

 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 ...

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 abo...

 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 des...

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 inte...

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 promi...

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 docum...

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-know...

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.

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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?...