WEBVTT - Michael Caine

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to River Cafe, Table four, a production of iHeartRadio

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<v Speaker 1>and Adami's Studios.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi. I'm Michael Caine and I'm here with a very

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<v Speaker 2>good friend of mine called Ruthie Rogers.

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<v Speaker 3>I often say that the real reason I have a

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<v Speaker 3>restaurant is that once a week I get to walk

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<v Speaker 3>Michael Caine from Table four through the crowded restaurant to

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<v Speaker 3>his car and say good night to a man I

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<v Speaker 3>admire and I adore.

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<v Speaker 2>Is that me? Oh? Yeah, well, I love the restaurant.

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<v Speaker 3>I always say, what do we always say? Now? We

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<v Speaker 3>both say it the only reason she has a restaurant.

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<v Speaker 3>In each episode, my guest reads a recipe they have

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<v Speaker 3>chosen from one of our cookbooks. I talk about food,

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<v Speaker 3>the food they cook, the food they eat, and most

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<v Speaker 3>of all, the food of their memories.

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<v Speaker 2>The River Cafe have a dessert which is my favorite,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's called Pannacotta with grapper. So what I'm going

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<v Speaker 2>to do is I'm going to give you the recipe

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<v Speaker 2>in cash. You want to make it for yourself, Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>Pour nine hundred milligrams of cream into a pan, Add

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<v Speaker 2>the vanilla pods, add the lemon ride, bring to the boil.

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<v Speaker 2>Simmer and reducee by a third pass through a sieve.

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<v Speaker 2>Then scrape the seeds from inside the vanilla pods back

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<v Speaker 2>into the cream and discard the alter pods. Remove the

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<v Speaker 2>gelatine from the milk. Heat the milk until hot, then

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<v Speaker 2>return the gelatine to the milk and stir until dissolved.

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<v Speaker 2>Pour through a sieve into a hot cream and leave

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<v Speaker 2>to cool, stirring occasionally. Lightly whip the remaining cream with

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<v Speaker 2>the icing sugar, fold into the cold cream mixture and

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<v Speaker 2>then add grapper. It is now ready to be poured

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<v Speaker 2>into six small balls and put into the fridge for

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<v Speaker 2>at least three hours or if you like, overnight.

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<v Speaker 3>So, Michael, here we are Yeh River Cafe. But let's

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<v Speaker 3>go back to the beginning. You were born in London.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I was born in Burmasey, which is South London.

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<v Speaker 2>But I'm a company because I was born in a

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<v Speaker 2>part of Burmasey which is opposite bow Bells. And if

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<v Speaker 2>you're born within the sound of bow bells, you're a company.

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<v Speaker 3>What about food? Do you have memories of food?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? My memory of food is this. My father was

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<v Speaker 2>a Billies Gape fish market porter and he was a

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<v Speaker 2>big gambler, and so he never bought steak or anything.

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<v Speaker 2>It was too deer. But he used to nick a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of fish. So for fifteen years I ate fish,

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<v Speaker 2>every kind of fish you can imagine, and I realized

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<v Speaker 2>that's a very healthy thing. And also another accidental healthy

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<v Speaker 2>thing for me was the Second World War. You couldn't

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<v Speaker 2>get any sugar. You couldn't get any of those things,

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<v Speaker 2>those drinks that you have now with all this sugar

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<v Speaker 2>in it. Then I was evacuated into the country away

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<v Speaker 2>from the smug which in Bermondsey then was terrible because

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<v Speaker 2>of everyone had cold fires. But I was evacuated to

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<v Speaker 2>the country and I lived on a farm for six years.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you remember the food there.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, the food was wonderful. I mean some of the

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<v Speaker 2>food I caught myself because I could outrun a rabbit.

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<v Speaker 2>And I used to catch a rabbit with a stick

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<v Speaker 2>and give it to my mother to cook for dinner.

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<v Speaker 2>Pheasant partridge. We remember all those things, and so thinking

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<v Speaker 2>back on it, health wise, I was very lucky. And

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<v Speaker 2>not on top of all that, my mother insisted I

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<v Speaker 2>ate porridge for breakfast. For fifteen years.

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<v Speaker 3>You had fish, you had pheasants, had.

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<v Speaker 2>Porridge, rabbit and everything had fresh vegetables. We lived on

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<v Speaker 2>a farm. We used to go and knick the cabbage.

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<v Speaker 2>And eventually we came back to London and the council

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<v Speaker 2>gave us a prefabricated house which was made of asbestos,

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<v Speaker 2>and they put them up like in two weeks, and

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<v Speaker 2>people were sort of sympathizing with people like me who

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<v Speaker 2>were having to live in these prefabricated houses. And what

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<v Speaker 2>they didn't know was what life was like before because

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<v Speaker 2>in the flat we lived in when I was a

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<v Speaker 2>little boy, there was no toilet. For a start. You

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<v Speaker 2>had to go down to the garden, so I had

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<v Speaker 2>very strong legs, or you bought a pot pop, you know.

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<v Speaker 2>But when we walked into the prefab the first time,

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<v Speaker 2>my brother Stanley and I, we were stunned. We were

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<v Speaker 2>in a place which for the first time had electric light,

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<v Speaker 2>an indoor toilet, and it had a little garden. It

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<v Speaker 2>was unbelievable in the middle of London and the Elephant Castle.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you remember the kitchen.

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<v Speaker 2>The kitchen was lovely. It was an electric stove and

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<v Speaker 2>a refrigerator, you know, it was a refrigerator. We'd never

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<v Speaker 2>seen a refrigerator and we had a bathroom. I mean

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<v Speaker 2>when we used to have a bath in the kitchen,

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<v Speaker 2>in a bath that my mothers pour hot watering in

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<v Speaker 2>the kettle.

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<v Speaker 3>So you imagine mother and father moving with their children

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<v Speaker 3>to this prefabricated house which it had had a bathroom,

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<v Speaker 3>it had a kitchen, it had a view, it had

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<v Speaker 3>a garden. So how do you think that changed her

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<v Speaker 3>way of being with you and cooking for you.

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<v Speaker 2>It was fabulous for her because it cut out masses

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<v Speaker 2>of work to do things, you know, And she was

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<v Speaker 2>so happy and the food got even better.

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<v Speaker 3>Why do you like the pana cootta?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, the panakotta has little bits of fruit in it,

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<v Speaker 2>and I can eat that without conscience because I'm eating fruit,

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<v Speaker 2>you know. And I said, oh, look it's a BlackBerry.

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<v Speaker 3>Yah.

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<v Speaker 2>It just happened to have a little bit of extra

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<v Speaker 2>panicotta with it because it was quite old and I

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<v Speaker 2>can't stuff down sugar as much as i'd like to,

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<v Speaker 2>and there's quite a lot of sugar in it.

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<v Speaker 3>It's quite a bit. But she just read the have

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<v Speaker 3>you ever made it?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh? No, I never make desserts. I only does and

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<v Speaker 2>veitch because I'm afraid of eating them.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh, okay. And what do you make when you make

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<v Speaker 3>a main course? What do you like to cook?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm the one responsible in the house for Sunday lunch,

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<v Speaker 2>so I do roast beef, roast lam Christmas, I do

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<v Speaker 2>the roast turkey. I do the best, allegedly the best

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<v Speaker 2>roast potatoes anybody who ever came ever eaten. Yeah, I'm

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<v Speaker 2>very good at that. Well, the trick is, when they're

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<v Speaker 2>cooked is to mash them just a little bit, just

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<v Speaker 2>crack them open, put oil on them, and then bake

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<v Speaker 2>them again, so they always got baked inside. Oh yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>but I've never eaten panicotta in any other reund but yours. Okay, Well,

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<v Speaker 2>I always eat it every time I come.

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<v Speaker 3>You do? You come usually on a Wednesday or Thursday.

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<v Speaker 3>You always sit on table for and you always sit

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<v Speaker 3>at the same seat. And I was just wondering how

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<v Speaker 3>you feel about restaurants and food.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I love restaurants. I've owned a couple. I don't

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<v Speaker 2>use restaurants for occasions. Restaurants are part of my life.

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<v Speaker 3>Because your mom worked in the Lion's Corner house.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, my mother was a cook in a lion's corner house.

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<v Speaker 2>That was the first sort of brasserie in England that

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<v Speaker 2>I ever saw. There were no braiseries in England, but

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<v Speaker 2>Lion's Corner House was a brasserie. I realized later when

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<v Speaker 2>I went to France and loved the braseries in France,

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<v Speaker 2>and I came back to England and I met Peter

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<v Speaker 2>Langan and we both said there isn't a brasserie in London,

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<v Speaker 2>and we opened Langard's brasseriie together, what was it like

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<v Speaker 2>being involved in a restaurant fabulous?

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<v Speaker 3>What did you like about it?

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<v Speaker 2>Well? I loved the idea right from the start of

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<v Speaker 2>designing the restaurant and didn't getting drunk for nothing.

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<v Speaker 3>How did you design it? What would your design be?

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<v Speaker 2>Of the design there is? I said, how we got

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<v Speaker 2>to design this? Said Peter Langer, my partner. He said,

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<v Speaker 2>We've got masses of walls. It was an enormous restaurant.

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<v Speaker 2>He said, we cover them with pictures, paintings. I said, paintings.

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<v Speaker 2>I said, I'm the money. I said no, he said,

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<v Speaker 2>we'll get wonderful paintings for very little money. Because I

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<v Speaker 2>had the perfect partner, who's going to help me? Choose him?

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<v Speaker 2>I said, what's his name? He said, David? Helpney. David

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<v Speaker 2>even did the menu forever. Yeah, so I had a

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<v Speaker 2>great time.

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<v Speaker 3>When you sort of started out acting and being an

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<v Speaker 3>actor on your own. Was food important to you then?

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<v Speaker 3>Would you grab something or did you go back to

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<v Speaker 3>your Now?

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<v Speaker 2>I used to go to the cheapest possible restaurant I

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<v Speaker 2>could find. I mean, I had no money. I found

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<v Speaker 2>an Italian restaurant in Soho that served three course meal

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<v Speaker 2>for half a crown.

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<v Speaker 3>Half a crown and six. I interviewed Paul McCartney the

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<v Speaker 3>other day and he was telling me that the first

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<v Speaker 3>really good meal that he remembers was going with George

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<v Speaker 3>Martin to Latoine and that was an awakening for him

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<v Speaker 3>of what food could be. Do you remember an experience

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<v Speaker 3>going from an expensive, cheap restaurants to actually having your first.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, my first thing was when my dad died. He

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<v Speaker 2>left me a bit of money, about one hundred pounds,

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<v Speaker 2>and I was so sad. I thought, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 2>get on a train and go to Paris. And I

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<v Speaker 2>got on a train on my own and went to Paris.

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<v Speaker 2>And I stayed there for about seven months. And I

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<v Speaker 2>adored the food in Paris. I loved it, but I

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<v Speaker 2>adore English.

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<v Speaker 3>I remember how old you were when you went to Paris.

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<v Speaker 2>I was seventeen seventeen.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, so you took the hundred pounds at the one

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<v Speaker 3>hundred pounds last year seven months.

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<v Speaker 2>No I worked. I used to sell on the street,

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<v Speaker 2>freaked freak for a franc used to get free for

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<v Speaker 2>a franc. I used to sell that. And I had

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<v Speaker 2>a French mate who had a cafe so there. Then

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<v Speaker 2>I had an American friend, another sort of broke like me,

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<v Speaker 2>and he worked in the air terminal, so I used

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<v Speaker 2>to go in there and I could get free food

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<v Speaker 2>from him. And I used to have an empty suitcase.

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<v Speaker 2>I'd sleep on the sofa as I was waiting for

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<v Speaker 2>a plane if I didn't have enough money. But I

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<v Speaker 2>love Paris, and I learned to speak French. I speak

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<v Speaker 2>very good friends, It's good.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you remember, like the first grand meal that you

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<v Speaker 3>had when you had money, which will you take into

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<v Speaker 3>a restaurant and had something amazingly sophisticated to eat and

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<v Speaker 3>that made you interested in food, even food.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. The restaurant was the White Elephant, that was Encouragement Street. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>and we went there. I'm trying to think what the

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<v Speaker 2>hell it was We had. Oh it was to do

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<v Speaker 2>with cavia. Ah, and there was cavia all over the place,

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<v Speaker 2>and I never got over that. I'd never eaten the

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<v Speaker 2>caviar obviously couldn't afford it. But then this whole dish

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<v Speaker 2>was cavire. It was wonderful. I know who it was too.

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<v Speaker 2>Harry Saltzmith had given me the part in Ichris File,

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<v Speaker 2>and he took me to the White Elephant. And of

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<v Speaker 2>course I was under contract. You know, I could have

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<v Speaker 2>anything I liked, and I suddenly realized that's what my

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<v Speaker 2>life is going to be.

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<v Speaker 3>But having great food could be possible.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, having enough money to have great.

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<v Speaker 3>Food, because I think food is an aspiration, isn't it

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<v Speaker 3>Having great food or something that you can it opens

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<v Speaker 3>you up to a world.

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<v Speaker 2>Is why I come here.

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<v Speaker 3>What about when you went to make the Italian Job

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<v Speaker 3>in Italy? What was that like?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh? I had a wonderful time. It was a great

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<v Speaker 2>restaurant every evening.

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<v Speaker 3>Did they cook on set? Do you eat? No?

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<v Speaker 2>No, we didn't buy that much with lunch because a

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<v Speaker 2>movie is a hard thing to make, you know, especially

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<v Speaker 2>when with all those cars and crowds, like an Italian job.

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<v Speaker 2>So we concentrated on that all day. I mean, you

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<v Speaker 2>wind up having a sandwich or a bowl of spaghetti,

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<v Speaker 2>but then you'd have a great meal in the evening.

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<v Speaker 3>And if you are in a film, do you really

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<v Speaker 3>try and avoid food or do you find it's good

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<v Speaker 3>to sit.

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<v Speaker 2>Down and have no I avoid food. Yeah, I don't

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<v Speaker 2>want to go to sleep in the afternoon when I

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<v Speaker 2>was supposed to be doing ten pages of dialogue. Food

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<v Speaker 2>makes you go to sleep.

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<v Speaker 3>When you make movies in la Is there a restaurant

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<v Speaker 3>that you go to?

0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:53.199
<v Speaker 4>Oh?

0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.440
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Chasins.

0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.120
<v Speaker 3>We ate the Chasin tell us about Chasins.

0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:02.480
<v Speaker 2>Chasins was almost like a club. I used to go

0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:06.079
<v Speaker 2>there every Friday and you look around the room and

0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:10.040
<v Speaker 2>Alfred Hitchcock was always sitting there. Kerry Grant was over there,

0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.840
<v Speaker 2>you know, and it was one of those incredible places,

0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:18.200
<v Speaker 2>you know. But everybody only ever went to the same

0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.640
<v Speaker 2>restaurant on the same day. If you went to Chasings

0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.480
<v Speaker 2>on a Tuesday, would have been crowded, but there'd been

0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:27.360
<v Speaker 2>no stars there. The stars were there Friday night, and

0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:31.640
<v Speaker 2>Spargo was another one Thursday. Everyone was in Spargo. And

0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.080
<v Speaker 2>the great thing about that is that there was great

0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:38.880
<v Speaker 2>food and a great atmosphere. But there were stars everywhere,

0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:41.960
<v Speaker 2>just all the movie stars I've been seeing in movies

0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:45.920
<v Speaker 2>all my life. My grandfather knew Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock

0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.560
<v Speaker 2>was born in South London. His father had a grocery

0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.720
<v Speaker 2>store next door to my great grandfather with Alfred Hitchcock.

0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:58.000
<v Speaker 2>When I went to Universal making a picture Gambit with

0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:01.960
<v Speaker 2>Shirley McLean, was given a dressing room bungalow next door

0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.280
<v Speaker 2>to his. His was a permanent one, it was always in.

0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:06.760
<v Speaker 2>Mine was a temporary one. And I've got to know

0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:09.760
<v Speaker 2>him very welcome from both from South London. And I

0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:11.800
<v Speaker 2>said him one day I saw, I said, I saw

0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:15.439
<v Speaker 2>strangers on a train and there wasn't one shot of

0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:19.360
<v Speaker 2>a train in the entire movie, going along a track

0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:24.320
<v Speaker 2>to somewhere. He said, whose viewpoint on the train would

0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:29.960
<v Speaker 2>that have been? And there in one line he summed

0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:33.760
<v Speaker 2>up directing movies. And I remember that you never did

0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:34.440
<v Speaker 2>a movie.

0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:35.120
<v Speaker 3>With his Scot, did you.

0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.800
<v Speaker 2>I bet people who did movies and they loved him.

0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:41.640
<v Speaker 2>I never did. I never got that lucky.

0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:44.160
<v Speaker 4>If you sit near the wood of and you get

0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:48.000
<v Speaker 4>a great view of what we're cooking, whether it's dover soles, turbots, pigeons,

0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:52.960
<v Speaker 4>or pieces of beef. Today we're making potatoes eleven oregano,

0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.840
<v Speaker 4>parsley and black olive alfuna. The potatoes are in here

0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.440
<v Speaker 4>now with all the herbs, good olive, all season twelve.

0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:01.720
<v Speaker 4>You have to incorporate all your.

0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:05.160
<v Speaker 2>Mouthy lemons chopped and chopped garlic a little bit later.

0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.160
<v Speaker 4>If I put them into soon, the garlic would probably

0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.840
<v Speaker 4>go too quickly, as with the lemon. Now the potatoes

0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:11.920
<v Speaker 4>have had a bit of a head start.

0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:13.719
<v Speaker 2>Then we'll get all the lemon and the garlic in

0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:15.400
<v Speaker 2>that and they will all come together.

0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.920
<v Speaker 3>The other thing I think about restaurants, having worked in

0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.960
<v Speaker 3>one and having an open kitchen really seeing the people

0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:32.520
<v Speaker 3>who come in, is that people do very private things

0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.600
<v Speaker 3>in a public space. So they'll use a restaurant to

0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.120
<v Speaker 3>fire someone, or they'll use a restaurant admit an affair,

0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:42.440
<v Speaker 3>or they'll use a restaurant to get divorced. You see

0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:44.560
<v Speaker 3>a lot of tears, but if you talk to my waiters,

0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:46.680
<v Speaker 3>they will tell you about the amazing amount of people

0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:47.960
<v Speaker 3>who'll cry.

0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.680
<v Speaker 2>Well, people at my table have cried, but with laughter, wait,

0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:53.080
<v Speaker 2>jokes and stuff.

0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:53.320
<v Speaker 3>You know.

0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:55.160
<v Speaker 2>I consider myself a Duff commits.

0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:56.800
<v Speaker 3>When you've been asked to be in a movie, will

0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:59.040
<v Speaker 3>you have had meetings with you know?

0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:05.200
<v Speaker 2>Oh, in Hollywood you're always with executives and it's quite serious.

0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:08.840
<v Speaker 2>But it's never dinner. It's always lunch. I would never

0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.320
<v Speaker 2>discuss business at dinner. You've got to come to lunch

0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.320
<v Speaker 2>for that, because I'm not wasting the dinner doing it.

0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:14.960
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you know.

0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.680
<v Speaker 2>Do you think that's just you or is it most people?

0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.360
<v Speaker 2>You go into Hollywood restaurants at lunch time and it's

0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:23.680
<v Speaker 2>all business. Yeah, it's all business lunches.

0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:25.840
<v Speaker 3>When Richard and I went to New York, the thing

0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.680
<v Speaker 3>that I was really interested was we were often taken

0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.520
<v Speaker 3>out to lunch by his clients, to the Four Seasons

0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.040
<v Speaker 3>and the Secret Building. And the thing I still notice

0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.000
<v Speaker 3>is that nobody drinks. No. You know, Richard asked for

0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:39.640
<v Speaker 3>a glass of white wine, and I think they thought

0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.000
<v Speaker 3>he was an alcoholic, you know, having and if you

0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:44.800
<v Speaker 3>go around, they're having fantastic food, but with iced tea.

0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.600
<v Speaker 2>With New York, I find a restaurant and live in it.

0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:49.320
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:53.400
<v Speaker 2>My restaurant in New York was Elaines. Yeah. Elaine was

0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.560
<v Speaker 2>a lady who owned this restaurant named after her, and

0:15:56.720 --> 0:15:58.960
<v Speaker 2>she was one of my closest friends. And she was

0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:03.840
<v Speaker 2>everyone's close, just mine, and you always met people there. Yeah,

0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.680
<v Speaker 2>I mean it was a very showbiz area. Yeah, very showbiz.

0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.720
<v Speaker 3>I know for myself that people will return to a

0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:14.920
<v Speaker 3>restaurant where they're welcomed with warmth, with kindness, and the

0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:18.800
<v Speaker 3>food might not be the top priority, but people will

0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:22.320
<v Speaker 3>come back to a restaurant if their chicken was overcooked

0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.920
<v Speaker 3>or their lemon tart was a bit you know, curdly.

0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.280
<v Speaker 3>But I certainly will not go back to a restaurant

0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:30.480
<v Speaker 3>where I've been treated badly or I've been people been arrogant,

0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.080
<v Speaker 3>or you know, you go. I want people to feel

0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:33.800
<v Speaker 3>safe when they.

0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.520
<v Speaker 2>Go on restaurant where I got treated badly. I never

0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:40.480
<v Speaker 2>did because I'm so fussy about restaurants, and yeah, I

0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.560
<v Speaker 2>read about them, you know, before I go the first time. Yeah,

0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.240
<v Speaker 2>and I've always been in restaurants all over the world,

0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:50.400
<v Speaker 2>but the River Cafe in particular. Someone took me there

0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.640
<v Speaker 2>the first time, and I was stunned by the restaurant.

0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.680
<v Speaker 2>I had never seen a restaurant like that. It was

0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.400
<v Speaker 2>the highest restaurant I've been in the widest and being

0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:04.119
<v Speaker 2>well known, and people coming asking for autographs. You sit

0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:07.840
<v Speaker 2>so far apart from each other that no one recognizes you,

0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.640
<v Speaker 2>especially if like me, got a baseball cap and dark glasses.

0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:11.720
<v Speaker 3>You know that helps.

0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:15.159
<v Speaker 2>And you can see all the staff cooking, and there

0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:18.800
<v Speaker 2>was a big boiler doing pizzas with great big flames

0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:19.320
<v Speaker 2>coming out.

0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:20.760
<v Speaker 3>You would be meaning the wood oven.

0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.159
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And I had never seen a restaurant like that.

0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.600
<v Speaker 2>I mean of the sixties, the big popular restaurants for

0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:31.440
<v Speaker 2>small Italian brasseries which took over from the English restaurant.

0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:33.720
<v Speaker 2>You know, where you had to leave a sort of

0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.679
<v Speaker 2>nine o'clock about half past eight. You see the headweight.

0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.480
<v Speaker 2>They're looking at his watch. Great, when are the bloody

0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:43.399
<v Speaker 2>people leaving? But what there was also he sees the timing.

0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.320
<v Speaker 2>You stay as long as you like. You leave when

0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.040
<v Speaker 2>you finished the dinner, not when the waiters have got

0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:49.480
<v Speaker 2>fed up.

0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.320
<v Speaker 3>I think that when Rose and I started the River Cafe,

0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:54.680
<v Speaker 3>we were at a point in restaurant world. And it

0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.359
<v Speaker 3>wasn't just us. It was Alice Walters in San Francisco

0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:01.320
<v Speaker 3>and Sally Clark in London and Roly in London as well.

0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:02.680
<v Speaker 3>And I think we were at a point where you

0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:07.639
<v Speaker 3>could either go to a very very established, well cooked

0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.280
<v Speaker 3>meal formal it was an occasion you would go out,

0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.520
<v Speaker 3>you'd dress up, and you'd be humiliated by the wine waiter,

0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:15.800
<v Speaker 3>you know, but you would have a good meal. And

0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:17.720
<v Speaker 3>then there were the kind of like you said, the

0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.680
<v Speaker 3>cheap Italians or the Greek or the places where you

0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.159
<v Speaker 3>could go and have a great time but maybe not

0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.720
<v Speaker 3>eat so well. And we thought, well, why can't you

0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:28.879
<v Speaker 3>combine the two. Why can't you do a place that

0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:32.480
<v Speaker 3>has elegance and it has drama, all the things we

0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:34.280
<v Speaker 3>look for, but also you could have fun.

0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:40.800
<v Speaker 2>From my point of view as an actor, I realized

0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:44.560
<v Speaker 2>that I love writing. I'm writing a book now another one. Yeah,

0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.080
<v Speaker 2>And I loved a garden and I love to cook.

0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.440
<v Speaker 2>And if you think that there are three things, you

0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.560
<v Speaker 2>do them on your own. My life is spent with

0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.240
<v Speaker 2>one hundred and fifty people all day, and when I

0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.600
<v Speaker 2>go home, I write, cook or garden on my own.

0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:03.760
<v Speaker 2>And that's why I chose those things. I didn't know

0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:04.920
<v Speaker 2>i'd chosen them for that.

0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:10.080
<v Speaker 3>One of the questions that I ask everybody at the

0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:14.159
<v Speaker 3>end of the conversation is we have food when we're hungry.

0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:17.000
<v Speaker 3>We have food when we're celebrating, but sometimes we just

0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.680
<v Speaker 3>want food for comfort. What would that be your comfort food?

0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:24.880
<v Speaker 2>Well, years ago, sausage of mesh. Yes, now it's caveo.

0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:31.840
<v Speaker 3>Okay. To visit the online shop of the River Cafe,

0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.040
<v Speaker 3>go to shop Therivercafe dot co dot uk.

0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.399
<v Speaker 1>River Cafe Table four is a production of iHeartRadio and

0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:49.640
<v Speaker 1>Adamized Studios. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.760
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.