1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:07,000
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

2
00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,879
Speaker 2: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and

3
00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,080
Speaker 2: Tim Stenoveek on Bloomberg Radio Well.

4
00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,840
Speaker 3: She is an award winning chef, co founder of a

5
00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:22,160
Speaker 3: Michelin starred restaurant, author of thirteen cookbooks, A native New Yorker,

6
00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,119
Speaker 3: has a podcast where she talks with the likes of

7
00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:28,040
Speaker 3: Paul McCartney, Tina Fey, David Beckham, mel Brooks, Martha Stewart,

8
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:33,080
Speaker 3: Francis Ford Coppola, Markcarney, Bob Eiger, Johnny Ive whose comfort food,

9
00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:33,760
Speaker 3: by the way.

10
00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 2: Is peet okay.

11
00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:35,720
Speaker 1: I like that.

12
00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,800
Speaker 3: Who would have known? She has also full disclosure, talked

13
00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:40,960
Speaker 3: with Michael Bloomberg, of course, founder on Bloomberg LP and

14
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,040
Speaker 3: Bloomberg Philanthropies. She has talked with many, many folks. All

15
00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,360
Speaker 3: of it comes together in a great book. It's also

16
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,479
Speaker 3: comes together like a great meal with amazing company. Her

17
00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,280
Speaker 3: new book is entitled Table four at the River Cafe, which,

18
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,840
Speaker 3: as we understand, is a highly coveted physical table located

19
00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,120
Speaker 3: in near the restaurant's open kitchen. Here to tell tell

20
00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,920
Speaker 3: us about it and more is Ruthie Rogers, co founder

21
00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,080
Speaker 3: of the River cafe in London, host of her podcast

22
00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,039
Speaker 3: Ruthie's Table for She joins us from London. We are

23
00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:09,880
Speaker 3: so delighted to have you. We know it's a little

24
00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,320
Speaker 3: bit later there in London. Congratulations on the new book.

25
00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,280
Speaker 3: And we were thinking about where should we begin and

26
00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,840
Speaker 3: if you had to pick one single thing, Ruthie as

27
00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:26,280
Speaker 3: to where you are today, why you got there, your restaurant, iconic,

28
00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,200
Speaker 3: well known in London, award winning, you've got now a

29
00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,560
Speaker 3: five year old podcast. What might that thing be?

30
00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,360
Speaker 1: I think that you know, from the very beginning, we

31
00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,800
Speaker 1: started with the values of a restaurant. What is a restaurant?

32
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,920
Speaker 1: Why do people go to restaurants? What do you look

33
00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,120
Speaker 1: for in a restaurant? And I was just downstairs just

34
00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,199
Speaker 1: now and I see that the way people are greeted,

35
00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:49,640
Speaker 1: the way people have made to feel welcome. Of course,

36
00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,640
Speaker 1: the food. We changed the menu for every meal. We

37
00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,800
Speaker 1: write a menu. We rather like you do it home.

38
00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,400
Speaker 1: We see what is fresh, what we have we bought

39
00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,960
Speaker 1: the day before, and what of course always wants in

40
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,160
Speaker 1: season in the Italian market. So I think every day

41
00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,840
Speaker 1: is a different day. We have great people working here

42
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,960
Speaker 1: who we you know, the whole kitchen is open, and

43
00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,040
Speaker 1: so there's a kind of way that we all work together.

44
00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:16,760
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, we want, really people to

45
00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,320
Speaker 1: come to your restaurant to leave I always say, quite

46
00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:21,160
Speaker 1: simply happier than when they arrived.

47
00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,000
Speaker 2: So tell us about for people who haven't been to

48
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:25,919
Speaker 2: the restaurant, the coveted table four.

49
00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,240
Speaker 1: Well, you know what, Michael Caine always used to sit

50
00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,760
Speaker 1: at table four. But then you know, when Nancy Pelosi

51
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:36,560
Speaker 1: came in, we set at table one, and there might

52
00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,160
Speaker 1: be a table that will prefer somebody who prefers Table ten,

53
00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,079
Speaker 1: which is near to the entrance. Table four is slightly

54
00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,360
Speaker 1: also a pun on the word four, so it's a

55
00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,800
Speaker 1: table number, but it also is a table for Michael Bloomberg,

56
00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:53,480
Speaker 1: a table for any of the other people who are

57
00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,280
Speaker 1: in the book. Because what we wanted to do during

58
00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,959
Speaker 1: when we had to stop the restaurant because of the pandemic,

59
00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:02,959
Speaker 1: we wanted a way to reach the people who ate

60
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,959
Speaker 1: in the restaurant. How could we reach them. We thought

61
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,799
Speaker 1: about reading a recipe every day, and then that segued

62
00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,239
Speaker 1: into the story because when you think about when we

63
00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,960
Speaker 1: when we talk to people through the lens of food

64
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,160
Speaker 1: about their memories, it's very thoughtful. It It brings back

65
00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,600
Speaker 1: if I asked you did your mother cooke? Did your

66
00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,400
Speaker 1: father cook? Did you go to restaurants? It brings up

67
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:25,239
Speaker 1: other stories.

68
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,040
Speaker 3: I love that aspect. Being from a large family. Food

69
00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,000
Speaker 3: was a big part. My mom loved to cook, and

70
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:38,400
Speaker 3: you know, especially around holidays, birthdays, a relative in town.

71
00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,480
Speaker 3: She would cook and make sure there was things for

72
00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,800
Speaker 3: everybody who liked, you know, even if she had to

73
00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,680
Speaker 3: do like five different vegetables to make sure everybody was happy.

74
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,400
Speaker 3: But we would sit Ruthie at that table for hours,

75
00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,680
Speaker 3: and I feel like that's where you're coming from now.

76
00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,280
Speaker 1: The best things happened around a table, I think very well,

77
00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,360
Speaker 1: and the sad things happened around a table. But I

78
00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,160
Speaker 1: think it is around a table that we all meet.

79
00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,400
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter. We could have a sandwich around the

80
00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,000
Speaker 1: table or a drink around the table, but there is

81
00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,840
Speaker 1: something of that conversation. And when when I you know,

82
00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,640
Speaker 1: when we interviewed Elton John and David Furnish, the woman

83
00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:18,640
Speaker 1: who worked for his chief of staff, who said she'd

84
00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,120
Speaker 1: worked with and heard so many interviews over twenty five years,

85
00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:25,200
Speaker 1: but it was only when Elton started talking about potting

86
00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:29,400
Speaker 1: peas with his grandmother, you know, or how they tried,

87
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,480
Speaker 1: you know, the people who goose food, you know, to seduce,

88
00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,159
Speaker 1: to impress, to give joy, to share. It's you know,

89
00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,400
Speaker 1: and I'm also you know, I meet a lot of

90
00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,000
Speaker 1: women who don't cook or men who don't cook, and

91
00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,920
Speaker 1: that's fine. It's not about the cooking. It's about somehow

92
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:45,640
Speaker 1: being together.

93
00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,000
Speaker 2: Well, let's talk about the podcast a little bit in

94
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,280
Speaker 2: the way that these interviews have come together in this

95
00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,640
Speaker 2: new book. As Carol mentioned a host of names, these

96
00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,320
Speaker 2: are not your favorites. These are just some of the

97
00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:55,719
Speaker 2: interviews that the publisher picked.

98
00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,799
Speaker 1: We should know make clear because so many brilliant people

99
00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:02,039
Speaker 1: are not in the book, but they'll be in volume two.

100
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,000
Speaker 2: Well, what is the connection between the podcast and the

101
00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,160
Speaker 2: restaurant and the way that you try to bring what

102
00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,360
Speaker 2: you bring to life in a restaurant to an audio

103
00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,000
Speaker 2: format that you invite people to sort of be at

104
00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:15,719
Speaker 2: the table with you.

105
00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:18,719
Speaker 1: I think there are two things. I think A friend

106
00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:20,599
Speaker 1: of mine came into the restaurant the other day and

107
00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:22,800
Speaker 1: he said, you know, oh, I don't you know, I'm

108
00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,440
Speaker 1: having trouble with one of my children. I'm not sure

109
00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,960
Speaker 1: that I can join this crowd. Look at this room, Ruthie.

110
00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,560
Speaker 1: There are so many people at this table looking so

111
00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,080
Speaker 1: happy and celebrating. And I said, you know, if you

112
00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,120
Speaker 1: wanted every table in this restaurant, everyone has a story.

113
00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,560
Speaker 1: Everyone has a story. It could be a happy story

114
00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,560
Speaker 1: that daughter might have graduated, or they could have been

115
00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,160
Speaker 1: fired that day, or their mother might be sick, or

116
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:47,760
Speaker 1: you know, there's so many stories that people have, and

117
00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,200
Speaker 1: I think what I wanted to do is talk to

118
00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,400
Speaker 1: people and have their stories told, as I say, through

119
00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,800
Speaker 1: the lens of food, and you discover we have different sections.

120
00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,839
Speaker 1: We have the chapter of Food is Found and so

121
00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:05,359
Speaker 1: we have the McCartney family, we have the Beckham family.

122
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:10,200
Speaker 1: We have the Mary Russell and Matthew Rice. We have

123
00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,800
Speaker 1: and that's families. We have the art food his art,

124
00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,040
Speaker 1: and we have Tracy Emmon, and we have Johnny Ive

125
00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,560
Speaker 1: who's a designer. We have the political artist politics. We

126
00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:23,919
Speaker 1: have as you said, Mark Kartney, and it's not about

127
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,680
Speaker 1: famous people. It's not about celebrities. It's about people who

128
00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,120
Speaker 1: have stories that we all want to know about, you know.

129
00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:35,760
Speaker 1: And so I think it's quite democratic. Yeah it is,

130
00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:36,200
Speaker 1: it is.

131
00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,200
Speaker 3: And the approach is really fun to kind of go through.

132
00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:41,800
Speaker 3: I want to ask you, though, I think your first

133
00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,800
Speaker 3: podcast was September, back in September of twenty twenty one,

134
00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:48,120
Speaker 3: Jake Jillen Hall.

135
00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,080
Speaker 1: Was it Jake? And if so, why Jan?

136
00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,320
Speaker 3: How did that come to be in White Jake being

137
00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:55,480
Speaker 3: the first.

138
00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,160
Speaker 1: Well, we never thought we never. Jake is a really

139
00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,120
Speaker 1: good friend. I've known him for a long time, and

140
00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:01,960
Speaker 1: I said, would you do this with me? Because I

141
00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,039
Speaker 1: don't really know what I'm doing, but we're going to

142
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:08,039
Speaker 1: try and do this podcast. And it really came from

143
00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,320
Speaker 1: my husband and I used to give evenings one every

144
00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,440
Speaker 1: year in which an actor or a singer or a

145
00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,800
Speaker 1: writer would would perform in the living room of our

146
00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,760
Speaker 1: house and we would give the money to, you know,

147
00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,720
Speaker 1: the charitable cause we believed in. And one night we

148
00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,960
Speaker 1: had Ian McKellen and I you know, he told an anecdote,

149
00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:35,400
Speaker 1: He sang a song, he recounted something that happened to

150
00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,000
Speaker 1: him in the theater, He did a sonnet of Shakespeare.

151
00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,640
Speaker 1: But the last thing he did was to get one

152
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,640
Speaker 1: of our cookbooks, the first cookbook, and read a recipe

153
00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,440
Speaker 1: for a soup. And you know always say a recipe

154
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,800
Speaker 1: is half science and half poetry. And the recipe is

155
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,160
Speaker 1: actually there's something rather beautiful about listening. So I said

156
00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:59,520
Speaker 1: to Jake, help me out here, and so he did

157
00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,440
Speaker 1: one the first one, I think, and I was Wes Anderson,

158
00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,640
Speaker 1: who's another good friend.

159
00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:09,920
Speaker 3: And one listen, Ruthie, we have to jump and go

160
00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,160
Speaker 3: ten seconds. So what's your comfort food?

161
00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,640
Speaker 1: My comfort food would be real quick plasmato sauce.

162
00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,880
Speaker 3: Ah. A good one, Ruthie, Thank you so much. We've

163
00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,280
Speaker 3: been looking forward to catching up with you. Ruthie Rogers,

164
00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,200
Speaker 3: co founder of the River Cafe in London, her podcast

165
00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,640
Speaker 3: Ruthie's Table for her new book, Table four at the

166
00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:31,720
Speaker 3: River Cafe