Ruth Rogers

From JS Bach to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

Chef and restaurateur, Ruth Rogers shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young.

Born in America, she has become one of the UK’s most celebrated cooks. Despite not being a trained chef, she set up The River Café with her business partner, the late Rose Gray, in 1987. The focus was on high quality, seasonal produce cooked the Italian way.

Many of today’s top chefs including Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Theo Randall, Sam Clark and Allegra McEvedy began their careers in their kitchen. The café was awarded a Michelin star in 1997.

The youngest of three children, Ruth Rogers’ parents were both immigrants and very political. In the late 1960s, she moved to London where she joined other Americans protesting against the Vietnam War. In 1969 she met the architect, Richard, now Lord, Rogers and they married in 1973.

The couple moved to Paris when Richard Rogers and his partners won the contract to design the Pompidou Centre. There she learned the importance of seasonality: subsequent visits to Italy shifted her passion to Italian cooking.

Producer: Cathy Drysdale

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.