Yotam Ottolenghi and I were introduced years ago by a mutual friend, Ari Sharpio. “Ruthie,” he said, “you’ve got to meet this guy. You think the same way.”  Yotam and I believe in the people we work with, valuing them and their creativity. We also share a food geography. Mine, an Italian landscape of the Renaissance, his farther east, a beautiful Biblical landscape of desert and sea.  We both live and work in London—a city far from where we were born. As a chef, cookbook author, and restaurateur, Yotam has pioneered a new approach to Middle Eastern cooking, while changing the way we shop and eat with his inviting gourmet markets. Sitting here in The River Cafe today, we will talk about separation and connection, Eastern and Western, food, family,  friends and thinking the same way.

Ruthie's Table 4: Yotam Ottolenghi

For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. 

On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers.

Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. 

Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation.
 
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Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

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 the 2012 London Olympics. Today in The River Cafe, I'm about to talk with all three as Savanah Leaf incredibly, is them all. The London-born, California-raised athlete turned artist, who still only 30, has just won the BAFTA for Best British debut Director for her powerful film Earth Mama.
The executive chef of The River Cafe Sian Owen is joining us, now we are five. A Cook, an artist, a director, an athlete and me. Women rule.

Ruthie’s Table 4 is made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Savanah Leaf

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, dreaming big and bringing those dreams to life.
Today I'm in Milan for Design Week. Moncler has taken over the central train station to launch its latest campaign, An Invitation to Dream, curated by Jefferson Hack. I'm in Remo’s home celebrating fashion, innovation, inspiration and daring to dream.
Ruthie’s Table 4 is made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remo Ruffini

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, Dessert Person and What's For Dessert, both New York Times bestsellers.
I've come to New York to meet Claire - we have a lot to discuss.

This episode of Ruthie's Table 4 is made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Claire Saffitz

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 footballers never to have received a red or yellow card — consistent with who he is: principled, respectful and fair — values we share.
We’re also both in the world of podcasts - his company Goal Hanger has 18 million listeners a month.
Gary and I also share the world of food.
Look at his Instagram account and you will see as many photographs of what he is cooking as the games he is analysing on Match of the Day.
Today, Gary is in The River Cafe kitchen with Joseph Trivelli making Potato Gnocchi with tomato sauce.
When he comes back I will definitely stop what I’m doing to talk to him about food, football, family and principles. 
It’s a goal.

Ruthie's Table 4 is made in partnership with Moncler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary Lineker

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 women in the film.
Renzo Piano, the architect for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in L.A., remembers that as a trustee, she was a rigorous and remarkable client.
Today, we're here in the River cafe to talk about all this and more.
Listen to Ruthie’s Table 4: Laura Dern made in partnership with Moncler – out now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ruthie's Table 4: Yotam Ottolenghi

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