WEBVTT - Bonus Episode - Working Lunches with James Harding

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<v Speaker 1>You were listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair,

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<v Speaker 1>would you say.

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<v Speaker 2>That, as a journalist and you're meeting someone, do you

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<v Speaker 2>think you'd get a better interview or conversation with them

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<v Speaker 2>in a restaurant over food or would you rather go

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<v Speaker 2>to their office or in a separate room. You like

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<v Speaker 2>to do it over food.

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<v Speaker 3>Always there's a sort of unwritten hierarchy of getting to

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<v Speaker 3>know and understand the person. So the lowest and the

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<v Speaker 3>least meaningful is anything that you can find on social media.

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<v Speaker 3>The next step up is the email. Then there's a

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<v Speaker 3>telephone call, then there's a meeting, and the best of all, no,

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<v Speaker 3>the second best of all is a meal. Probably the

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<v Speaker 3>best of all is a walk.

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<v Speaker 2>It's revealing. It's revealing the way people are in restaurants,

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<v Speaker 2>aren't they as well? That you might? You know why

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<v Speaker 2>people say why do people go on a date in

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<v Speaker 2>a restaurant? Well, you see the way the person you're

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<v Speaker 2>with treats the waiter. You see the way they how

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<v Speaker 2>long they take to choose the wine. You see if

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<v Speaker 2>they get upset about having to wait too long for

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<v Speaker 2>their food. A lot of people I know, not so

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<v Speaker 2>much anymore will say they really like to interview a

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<v Speaker 2>candidate for a.

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<v Speaker 3>Job over food.

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<v Speaker 2>That tells you a lot. One person even teld me

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<v Speaker 2>that if they don't push their chair in to the table,

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<v Speaker 2>then they think badly of them, which I was surprising.

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<v Speaker 2>Michael Bloomberg said he wouldn't hire anyone who asked for

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<v Speaker 2>a glass of wine at lunch if he was being interviewed.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh really, which is a bit tough.

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<v Speaker 2>Norman was sitting next to him and said, I wouldn't

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<v Speaker 2>hire anybody who didn't, but you might not if you

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<v Speaker 2>were being interviewed. Have you interviewed perspective? People are going

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<v Speaker 2>to work for you over food.

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<v Speaker 3>In a restaurant, Yes, a lot?

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<v Speaker 2>And what does it tell you?

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<v Speaker 3>You look to get away from language and all the

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<v Speaker 3>predictable formulas of office professional working conversations. It's interesting. I

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<v Speaker 3>spoke to someone who runs HR for this kind of

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<v Speaker 3>enormous investment business and she was saying to me, and

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<v Speaker 3>I'm no good at this, So the reason why I'm

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<v Speaker 3>so interested was that she's so good at it. She

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<v Speaker 3>was saying that when she interviews someone, this is for

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<v Speaker 3>a job, not for a story. She books in for

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<v Speaker 3>five hours. The first three hours she talks about asking

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<v Speaker 3>them about their live until the age of twenty one,

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<v Speaker 3>and then after that she'll talk about their working life.

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<v Speaker 3>And if you think about it, that's so difficult to

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<v Speaker 3>do these days. Often it will be so intrusive. But

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<v Speaker 3>also we all know that's what it is, that we're

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<v Speaker 3>all playing out those stories in different ways. And you're

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<v Speaker 3>more likely to get anywhere close to that in a restaurant,

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<v Speaker 3>and you're more likely to get anywhere close to that

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<v Speaker 3>over food. I mean, even the fact we're having this conversation.

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<v Speaker 3>You know that The trick of this whole podcast, of course,

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<v Speaker 3>is that if you call up and say, hi, I'd

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<v Speaker 3>like to talk to you about your family and your

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<v Speaker 3>background and your working life. Please know if you say,

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<v Speaker 3>by the way, why don't we get it together, let's

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<v Speaker 3>talk about some horse additions where that goes.

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<v Speaker 2>Did your grandmother cook? Did your father cook? And then

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<v Speaker 2>you remember parts of your life? Oh, Lorenzo Richard's partner,

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<v Speaker 2>I remember in the seventies when they were doing the Pompado.

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<v Speaker 2>We went home for lunch every day, and the idea

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<v Speaker 2>for him of having a business launch was intolerable. You

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<v Speaker 2>could not conceive of the idea that you would discuss

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<v Speaker 2>work over food. For him, you worked and.

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<v Speaker 3>Then you ate.

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<v Speaker 2>I think it's changed now.

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<v Speaker 3>I remember one fifty years ago. The truth is there

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<v Speaker 3>were some. I mean one of my favorites was it

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<v Speaker 3>being invited and someone said, we're going to have lunch

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<v Speaker 3>in my office and going and arriving at lunch in

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<v Speaker 3>the office and then arriving and I was on one

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<v Speaker 3>side of the desk and he was on the other side,

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<v Speaker 3>and do you mind if we have lunch? And I said, well,

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<v Speaker 3>of course not. And the person came and served him

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<v Speaker 3>up lunch and me not, we are going to But

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<v Speaker 3>you do learn so much about people find off having lunch.

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<v Speaker 3>I remember interviewing someone at once and we had this

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<v Speaker 3>lunch and it was soup, and then it was something else,

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<v Speaker 3>maybe a coffee. I was like, this is weird. Are

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<v Speaker 3>you just trying to get me in and out here

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<v Speaker 3>as fast as possible? And then it was like a

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<v Speaker 3>cigar and I said, no, I don't want a cigar.

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<v Speaker 3>But then we sat for two hours. We weren't really

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<v Speaker 3>having lunch, we were having well he was having a cigar.

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<v Speaker 3>I remember I once went to lunch with the head

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<v Speaker 3>of a bank. It was his bank. It was a

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<v Speaker 3>guy called David de Rothschild who has a bank called

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<v Speaker 3>roth Child. And at the end of lunch, this cheese

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<v Speaker 3>trolley came in Ruthie, and it's this amazing collection of

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<v Speaker 3>the two of us having lunch, and there was an

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<v Speaker 3>amazing trolley of cheeses. And I remember him saying to me, Oh,

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<v Speaker 3>I'm going to get into terrible trouble thing myself with

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<v Speaker 3>who who you can get drob with it to your bank?

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<v Speaker 3>You chose to cheese, Johnny. But it was a sort

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<v Speaker 3>of chart. It's a very very charming man in fact.

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<v Speaker 3>But you did learn a lot about people on the

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<v Speaker 3>way in which they interacted with others. I also loved

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<v Speaker 3>the meal. And I will wake up and think, I

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<v Speaker 3>wonder what's gonna happen?

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<v Speaker 2>Do you think lunch? Yeah, you think about that when

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<v Speaker 2>you wake up. I have a granddaughter, Ivory, who you know,

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<v Speaker 2>and she says that she goes to bed thinking that

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<v Speaker 2>she has lunch early enough she can have a second

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<v Speaker 2>lunch round three other people.

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<v Speaker 3>You know.

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<v Speaker 2>Chefs often say and I do it when I'm coming

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<v Speaker 2>into the River Cafe and I'm cooking lunch, I think,

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<v Speaker 2>what do I feel like eating today, you know what

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<v Speaker 2>would be the lunch.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's certainly just the meal itself, but there's also

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<v Speaker 3>who you're going to take a break from the screen

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<v Speaker 3>or the writing, or the editing, or the just the

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<v Speaker 3>back and forth of it all and be with the

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<v Speaker 3>person over at lunch or a dinner. I really love

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for listening to Ruthie's Table for in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with Montclair