To be a truly great host, as Graham Norton is every week on his television sofa, you have to understand and genuinely like people. It's the same for me at the River Café. There's no such thing as a difficult customer. Everybody has a story, and every table is a world.

Usually it's Graham asking the questions, but today, he's answering mine—about his early years in an American commune, his time working in restaurants, cooking, writing, and the art of hosting.

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