Ruthie's Table 4

When I’m asked why I love Mexico, the answer is the culture, cities, food, the seas, the mountains, and the history. But what I really love most are the people, and Frida Escobedo is one of those people.

A prominent architect in today’s world, Frida is reimagining the contemporary and modern galleries at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first woman architect ever to be appointed to do so. From reinventing the world-renown...

Every year must be an anniversary for someone like Maria Sharapova, who hit her first tennis ball at the age of four, was spotted by Martina Navratilova age six, and became one of only ten women in history to win a career Grand Slam when she was 25.

But this year is especially special. Maria is celebrating 20 years since winning against Serena Williams on Centre Court, becoming, at just 17, Wimbledon Champion.

Today we are here at ...

It was in our private dining room three years ago when I wrote to Ridley Scott asking if he’d be the first guest for a podcast idea I’d had about food and memories.

Ridley wrote back saying, ‘Yes Ruthie but I’m directing Gucci.’

A year later, ‘Yes Ruthie but I’m directing Napoleon.’

A year later, ‘Yes Ruthie but I’m directing The Bee Gees.’

Then a few days ago, whilst sitting in the River Cafe garden with his family, he drew a beau...

Quite often, people say to me, ‘I couldn’t possibly have you to dinner, you’re the chef of the river café, cooking for you would be overwhelming.’ That’s how I feel about introducing Sir David Hare. How do you write for one of the greatest writers of our generation? Whether he's scripting acclaimed plays like Skylight, Plenty, Stuff Happens, or movies like The White Crow, Denial, or The Reader, David is nothing short of a master of...

Tina Fey has been on Ruthie's Table 4 before and she is, in fact, our first returning guest. 

When we first met, she spoke about food being a major part of her life, but she only brought one half of her team. The other half, Jeff Richmond, is here with us now. A composer, producer, director, Jeff is Tina's creative partner, and he's her husband. He says he does all the cooking.

Tina and Jeff have collaborated on almost everything, ...

Jane Hartley was the American ambassador to France and Monaco, and now to the Court of Saint James. In the two years she has spent in the United Kingdom so far, Jane has had two monarchs, three prime ministers, four chancellors, and a late-stage pandemic.

She has the qualities necessary for the role in abundance: leadership, resilience, duty. I know her as a close friend, and though I always introduce Jane as Ambassador Hartley, my...

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a gala dinner at the National Theatre. The host of my table, Yana Peel, said she was sitting me next to a young filmmaker who had recently won a BAFTA. Then I met an artist whose work had just been exhibited at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Los Angeles, and is about to be shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Then I met a champion volleyball player who, aged 18, represented Britain in th...

If you find yourself on a mountain needing a ski jacket, going to a party needing something beautiful to wear, or in Paris or Milan craving perfect  fish, the man to meet is Remo Ruffini, CEO and Chairman of Moncler co-owner of Langosteria restaurants in cities all over the world.

Remo is dynamic, elegant and a visionary, putting sustainability at the heart of the company.

His leadership is a manifestation of Moncler’s ethos...

We've only just met, but I'm confident Claire Saffitz and I will be friends 

Claire shares the challenges of baking and life in general. She's a star in a new era of food writers who are experts in their knowledge, passionate about their craft, rigorous about their work.

Claire majored in history and literature at Harvard, then one day, almost by accident, she became the host of her own cooking show.

She has written two cookbooks, ...

My brother, Michael Elias, a writer and director tells me when visitors come to the set of a film, nothing stops. The only exception is if they are athletes.

Maybe it’s because everyone thinks, if pressed, they could act, sing or dance, but never run a race, ski downhill or score a goal. When Gary Lineker, one of the great footballers of our time, walks into The River Cafe everything stops. 

He is one of the very few footbal...

Thinking about Laura Dern coming here today, I scrolled through three years of text messages. It's a story about making plans and choosing restaurants to go to.

As usual, most of our ideas were aspirational, adapting around our families, movies, cooking and travel. Laura is fun, curious and  smart, hanging with the crew on set.

She has memories of her grandmother and describes her parents as heroes. She is a bold spokesperson for w...

I may not know what makes a good comedian, but I do know what makes a good father. 
 
When Judd and I met in London — where his daughter Maude was playing the lead role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret — he told me this was the eighth time he'd seen it in three weeks.
 
While I don’t know what makes a good comedian, Judd certainly does. His advice to kickstart your writing: think of a topic and write down as many jokes and on...

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, ...

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. ...

“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 betwee...

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...

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...

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 pr...

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...