Ruth Rogers: London’s favourite chef on creating an iconic house

For Ruth Rogers, home is at the very heart of everything. Her legendary London restaurant, the River Cafe, is founded on community, friendship and home cooking. Her iconic house in Chelsea, which she co-created with her architect husband, Richard Rogers, has been the backdrop to family life for forty years and has influenced a generation of homeowners to live with light and space. Ruthie invited me in to discuss her extraordinary life through the lens of the homes she has lived in. She describes with great poignancy how her house provides her with comfort following Richard’s death. She talks about growing up in the Borscht Belt near New York, and a chance encounter with Bob Dylan in Woodstock. Having personally co-founded a business in an industry I knew nothing about, I can relate to Ruthie’s inspiring story of starting the River Cafe with no restaurant experience and making things up as she went along. She tells me about how the restaurant has become a home from home, and why it’s been a breeding ground for some of the world’s most celebrated chefs, including Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, April Bloomfield and Allegra McEvedy. She talks about the influences behind her Chelsea home, from the Maison de Verre in Paris to the Italian piazzas of Pienza and Montepulciano, and why a rather special set of coloured pencils is one of the first things she would save in a house fire. 

This conversation was recorded in person at Ruth Rogers’ home in Chelsea, London. 

For more on Ruth Rogers:

Watch our film at the home of Ruth and Richard Rogers 

Visit the River Café  

Listen to Ruth’s podcast, Ruthie’s Table Four 

For more from Matt Gibberd and The Modern House:

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Executive Producer: Kate Taylor of Feast Collective

Production: Hannah Phillips

Music: Father

Graphic Design: Tom Young

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