Where Food Meets Politics… Jacinda Ardern, Andrew Jarecki, Erin Lyall, Hilton Als, Annie Leibovitz, Kamala Harris

With Richard E. Grant delighting audiences on The Traitors, we’re looking back at this special episode of Ruthie’s Table 4. I remember Richard and his wife Joan in the early days of The River Cafe, coming in for lunch and sitting at the same table, always warm, lovely and absorbed in each other. More than thirty years later, Richard and I share the loss of the partners we loved. We came together to talk about family, food, friendship and, above all, the enduring joy of love.

This week, we’re looking back at Gary Lineker’s visit to The River Cafe. Over the table, we travelled from his childhood in Leicester and the food of his mother’s kitchen to the football pitches of Barcelona. We talked about fame, family, and the importance of speaking out for refugees and compassion. Gary made potato gnocchi with tomato sauce alongside our chef Joseph Trivelli, and revealed his love of cottage pie.

This week, we’re looking back to the summer morning we shared with Cate Blanchett, who joined me at The River Cafe after her run in Thomas Ostermeier’s The Seagull. We talked about the pleasures of touring a play, growing up between American and Australian food traditions, silent meals after losing her father, teenage dinner parties inspired by a Salvador Dalí cookbook, the joys of growing food, and her love of sake.

This week, we’re revisiting our live episode with Sarah Jessica Parker. And what a guest she was. Sarah has always had a deep love of food, so we had plenty to talk about: from the role of food in Sex and the City, where so many memorable conversations unfolded around a meal, to growing up as one of eight children and cooking every night with Matthew Broderick. She cooked puntarelle in the kitchen with Sian Wyn Owen, took questions from our audience, shared her thoughts on airplane food, revealed her perfect pork chops, and her devotion to Burford eggs.

During our between-season break, we’re revisiting some of our favourite conversations from the Ruthie’s Table 4 archive. This week, we're looking back to when Benedict Cumberbatch joined me at The River Cafe to talk about Negronis with Wes Anderson, growing up in a theatrical family, body transformations, and cooking for his children.