2026年3月22日 / 美国东部时间上午10:01 / CBS新闻
伦敦一家热闹的餐厅——河畔咖啡馆（The River Cafe）自90年代末起就保持着米其林星级荣誉。露丝·罗杰斯不仅是这家意大利餐厅的联合创始人、所有者兼主厨，更是这里的灵魂人物，是连接各方的指挥家，在铺着蓝色地毯、名流云集的世界里，她是那个纽带。
“我喜欢和怀克里夫·让（Wyclef Jean）聊天，那真是即兴发生的，”她说，“他真的很喜欢美食。不到10分钟，他就开始滔滔不绝地讲个不停。”
那些可能被视为炫耀人脉的话题（“还有蒂娜·菲（Tina Fey）和她丈夫一起来的时候……”），对罗杰斯而言，不过是与她圈子里的人进行真诚的交谈。
露丝·罗杰斯在伦敦河畔咖啡馆迎接客人。（CBS新闻）
“我的意思是，你知道，弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉（Francis Ford Coppola）常来这里，他就住在附近。他非常坦诚和开放，”她说，“我们都有过儿子去世的经历。我的儿子26岁时去世了。所以，我们聊起了这个。我们谈到当我得知儿子去世的消息，所有人都回家了，我问能不能有人做点番茄酱？我需要闻到食物烹饪的香气，这不是因为我饿了，而是需要一种连续性和慰藉感。”
这些谈话——她总是询问有关慰藉食物的话题——被整理成一本新书《河畔咖啡馆4号桌》（Table 4 at the River Cafe），书中收录了埃尔顿·约翰（Elton John）、莎拉·杰西卡·帕克（Sarah Jessica Parker）等人的故事，还有一些令人惊讶的关联：玛莎·斯图尔特（Martha Stewart）、梅尔·布鲁克斯（Mel Brooks）和弗兰克·盖里（Frank Gehry）的母亲们，都曾在浴缸里养着活鲤鱼，以便在烹饪前保持新鲜。
罗杰斯说：“当你通过食物这个视角与人交谈时，你会发现一些原本可能找不到的回忆。我想，如果我对保罗·麦卡特尼（Paul McCartney）说‘我想采访你关于披头士乐队的事’，或者对大卫·贝克汉姆（David Beckham）说‘我们能谈谈足球吗’，他们可能会说‘露丝，你知道，这些我们都聊过了’。”
这本书源于她的播客节目，而播客则是新冠疫情时期通过食物与人建立联系的愿望催生的。
厨师杰米·奥利弗（Jamie Oliver）和露丝·罗杰斯。（CBS新闻）
尽管杰米·奥利弗当天要开餐厅，但他还是来录制节目了。（他也出现在这本书里。）“我太爱她了，”他说，“她就像有几百个‘我’一样。我今天要开餐厅，有100个人需要我。露丝打电话给我，我就在这儿。‘你需要什么？’‘我需要你到图姆斯库之类的深山里来。’‘我会带着信铃声赶来的。’”
毕竟，这位出生于美国的罗杰斯和她已故的商业伙伴罗斯·格雷（Rose Gray）早年就聘请了奥利弗。后来，在这里拍摄的一部纪录片让他被发掘，他也因此以“裸厨”（The Naked Chef）的身份成为明星。
奥利弗说：“每天我做饭的时候，都在想‘我该怎么做？用什么方式才能最好地向观众表达，而且价格要合适？’背后总有罗斯和露丝的影子，她一直陪伴着我。”
她已故的丈夫理查德·罗杰斯（Richard Rogers）与建筑师伦佐·皮亚诺（Renzo Piano）共同设计了巴黎蓬皮杜中心（Pompidou Center），当时他在伦敦的新建筑公司里需要一个员工食堂。“所以，我们想着在这里开个小咖啡馆。我记得我对理查德说，‘也许我来做这个吧。’”
于是，她打电话给朋友罗斯·格雷，两人从只有六张桌子的简单午餐开始做起。罗杰斯完全没有烹饪背景，“只有家里的日常烹饪经验”。
现任主厨之一的西恩·温·欧文（Sian Wyn Owen）说：“来到河畔咖啡馆，这里曾是两位女性——罗斯和露丝——的天下，她们教会我们要以‘希望’而非‘恐惧’来经营厨房。”
她展示了他们的柠檬挞是如何在木烤炉中完成的——充满乐趣，还有点戏剧性。“完全是这样，就像河畔咖啡馆本身一样！”她笑着说。
（图片：CBS新闻）
在她在这里的26年里，柠檬挞几乎一直是菜单上的常客。而她的资历相对较浅？经理瓦希蒂·阿米特（Vashti Armit）和查尔斯·普伦（Charles Pullan）在这里分别工作了31年和35年。
普伦说：“餐厅的灵魂始于罗杰斯，然后传递给这里的员工，彼此相互影响。所以，当人们走进来，希望能感受到那种兴奋的氛围。”
能在这里得到一张桌子就很幸运了，如果你不用付账单就更幸运了——这家餐厅感觉更像是17世纪的沙龙，充满个性和形形色色的人。
罗杰斯把英国足球传奇人物兼体育广播员加里·莱因克尔（Gary Lineker）拉进了播客（她前一晚在餐厅吃饭时遇到了他），而我站在那里时，她还特意为我搬来一把椅子。
露丝·罗杰斯总是为别人搬来一把椅子：“连接他人非常重要，”她说，“这就是我热爱餐厅的原因。”
这也是她认为餐厅应该被列为伦敦之所以伟大的原因之一。
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/chef-ruthie-rogers-on-the-comforts-of-food-and-conversation/
Chef Ruthie Rogers on the comforts of food and conversation
March 22, 2026 / 10:01 AM EDT / CBS News
The River Cafe, a bustling London restaurant, has kept its Michelin star since the late ’90s. Ruthie Rogers is not just co-founder, owner and chef; she is maestra of this Italian restaurant, conductor and, on the floor of her blue-carpeted, celebrity-filled world, connector.
“I love talking to Wyclef Jean; that was really spontaneous,” she said. “And he just loves food. And within 10 minutes he was just talking, and talking, and talking.”
What could be dismissed as name-dropping (“And when Tina Fey came with her husband…”) is, for Rogers, just genuine chat about people in her orbit.
Ruthie Rogers welcomes guests to the River Cafe in London. CBS News
“I mean, you know, to have Francis Ford Coppola, he used to come here quite often; he lived near here. He really was honest and open,” she said. “We both have sons who died. My son died when he was 26. And so, we talked about that. We talked about how, when I was told about the death of my son and everyone came home, I said, could somebody put some tomato sauce on? I need to smell something cooking, which was not because I was hungry, but it needed to feel a sense of continuity, and comfort.”
Those talks – she always asks about comfort food – have been compiled into a new book, “Table 4 at the River Cafe,” featuring folks like Elton John and Sarah Jessica Parker, and surprising links: Martha Stewart, Mel Brooks and Frank Gehry all had mothers who kept live carp in the bathtub, to keep it fresh before it became dinner.
Rogers said, “When you look through the lens of food and you talk to people, you find memories that you might not have found otherwise. I think if I had said to Paul McCartney, ‘I’d like to do an interview with you about The Beatles,’ or if I’d said to David Beckham, ‘Can we do an interview about football,’ they would’ve said, ‘Ruthie, you know, we’ve kind of been there and done that.”
The book is born from her podcast, a COVID-era desire to connect over food.
Chefs Jamie Oliver and Ruthie Rogers. CBS News
Chef Jamie Oliver came to record, despite trying to open a restaurant on the same day. (He’s in the book, too.) “I love her so much,” he said, “and she has, like, hundreds of me. I’m gonna be opening a restaurant today. I’ve got 100 people that need me. Ruthie phones up, I’m here. ‘What do you need?’ ‘I need you up a mountain, Timbuktu.’ ‘I’ll be there, with bells on.’”
After all, the American-born Rogers, and her late business partner, Rose Gray, hired Oliver early on. Then, a documentary shot here led to him being discovered, and turned into a star as “The Naked Chef.”
Oliver said, “Every day when I’m cooking, I’m thinking, ‘How do I do this? What’s the best way to express this for this audience at this price?’ And there’s always Rose and Ruthie. She’s with me every day.”
Late husband Richard Rogers, who along with fellow architect Renzo Piano designed Paris’ Pompidou Center, needed a canteen in his new London architecture firm. “So, we thought we’d open a little cafe here. I just remember I said to Richard, ‘You know, maybe I’ll do it.’”
So, she phoned her friend Rose Gray, and they began with six tables serving a simple lunch. Rogers had no cooking background at all. “Only home, domestic,” she said.
Sian Wyn Owen is one of the head chefs now: “Coming to the River Cafe where it was two women – it was Rose and Ruth – and to see how you could run a kitchen with what Ruthie always said, hope rather than fear.”
She showed how their lemon tart is finished in the wood burning oven – fun, and a bit of drama. “Exactly. Just like the River Cafe!” she laughed.
CBS News
It has been on the menu for most all of her 26 years here. She’s relatively new: managers Vashti Armit and Charles Pullan have been here for 31 and 35 years, respectively.
Gallery Books
Pullan says the spirit of the restaurant starts with Rogers: “And then it comes from the staff who work here, and it all rubs off on each other. And so, when people come in, hopefully there’s always a sense of that excitement.”
You’re lucky to get a table – luckier if you’re not paying the bill – in this restaurant which feels a bit more like a salon of the 17th century, a place filled with personality … and personalities.
Rogers pulled English soccer legend and sports broadcaster Gary Lineker into the podcast (she’d run into him eating the night before), and since I was standing there, she pulled up a chair for me.
Ruthie Rogers is always pulling up a chair for someone: “Connecting is huge,” she said. “That’s why I love a restaurant.”
And that’s why she believes restaurants should be on any list of what makes a city like London great.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/chef-ruthie-rogers-on-the-comforts-of-food-and-conversation/
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