February 8, 2022 • 18 mins
Did he really eat in the same restaurant in Paris twice a week while playing for PSG in 2013? Does he really believe the best pizza in the world can be found in Bushwick, Brooklyn? And did he discover the secret of pata negra ham while playing for Madrid? In Part 2 of their interview, David Beckham brings Ruthie Rogers into his world of football and food. Listen to it now on Episode 21 of Ruthie's Table 4.
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home.
On Ruthie's Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers.
Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks.
Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation.
For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/
Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to River Cafe, Table four, a production of I
Heart Radio and Adam I Studios. Okay, let's get the
show on the road, shall we. David Beckham say, she's
head chef. Where are you everything? Okay, whatever you want?
(00:21):
I want a job, Beckham, I would love a job.
You need a job. So I'm here today with Sean
win Owen, the head chef, and the River Cafe, and
my friend David Beckham. And it's now twenty two six
and people are coming into so the two of you
(00:41):
better get going. What are you going to make? We
are making? Hey, Telly, you're happy with that chef. I'm
more than happy with that, David. Okay, it's going to
cook for us. Okay, Oh yes, give it a really
good shake. Yea shake it shaking there go and a
(01:02):
bit of parsley. Oh yeah. What do you like cooking
at home? David? What do I like cooking at hard?
To be honest, my kids are obsessed with Italian food,
So the majority of the time they get mixed me
like a ragon because the kids love I could tell
(01:23):
when you're shaking the panel you weren't just an office yea,
quite impressive. You made it high are we done. Yes,
I think we could turn him. It's quite a useful shop.
And he has done a cooking course, it transpires. I'm
(01:48):
really impressed by that actually, So that was good. Now
it's time talk. Start beating and we'll talk. Can I
take you with me? Sit down and then take it
with Okay. We have an open kitchen, and one of
(02:08):
the great pleasures for me is being able to see
the reaction of people eating, whether they love it or
they don't love it, whether they share it or they
don't share it, whether they talk about it. You know,
it's part of the whole joy of eating out. And
I love open kitchens, you know. I like the interaction
that you can have with you know, what's going on
(02:29):
around you. You know, I like to see what the
chefs are doing. I'd like to see what what's being prepared.
To be honest, I've been so lucky because I lived
in Spain for four years, then I moved to America.
Then I spent eleven months in Italy, and then I
was back in America, and then I moved to Paris
for six months. So I had all of this kind
(02:50):
of education in you know, living in different places, eating
different foods, trying different things. You know, when I was
living in Paris, I was again Victoria and the kids
kids would going to school in London, so they obviously
couldn't live there with me. That had come out of
the weekends. So again, one of my favorite restaurants in
(03:11):
the world is Lammy Louis. I agree, absolutely, agree is
literally I would say it's probably one of my favorite
restaurants in the world for atmosphere, food, enjoyment, everything about it.
You know, from the moment I walked in, and you know,
(03:31):
all the waiters addressed in those white jackets, and whether
you're wearing a Bomber jacket or whether the most elegant
lady walks in and the Chanel coat. They take your
coat off, they fold it up and they throw it
above the head on the train. It's like a train carriage.
And my record for eating escargo is I've eaten thirty
(03:53):
two escargoes at one dinner. To the listener, can I
tell you those are big? I've had them then big
and they come on trees of six or nine I think,
and they come and I was in there for about
four hours with Victoria once and we had the most
amazing wine and everything about that restaurant. And I used
to go in there, and I shouldn't have done, because
(04:14):
obviously I was a professional athlete, and you know, I
tried to watch what I eat, but I just made
sure I ran harder than next day. So I used
to go in there once a week. They used to
let me come in. The first the service was at
seven thirty I think it was in the evening, and
that was no one was there at seven thirty either,
So I used to turn up at seven and by
the time the first people were coming through the door
(04:36):
around called it to eight o'clock, I was walking out.
So I used to do that once a week. I
used to go on my own. I didn't care that
I was on my own. I just didn't drink the wine.
But I just sat there and I the most amazing food.
I love it, and the pump feet of the bread
and everything about it. Unbelievable crime fresh at the end
(05:00):
in that tub of creme fresh air and they just
dollop it on the plate and the small strawberries. One
of the high points of my career is you know
the headwaiter, they're the one with the black hair. It's
not called Louis I can't remember his name, and he
came to the River Cafe with his family, with his
wife and his children, and it was really such a
(05:21):
it was such a moving experience for me to have
them there. So you actually had the experience of living
in the land. Yeah, I lived in Madrid. When I
first moved to Spain. I was twenty seven years old,
and I lived there for four years, and I became
really obsessed by wherever I would live in the world.
(05:43):
I decided in my head, Okay, this is where I'm
going to be for the rest of my life, because
I had to look at it like that, because I
wanted to throw myself into the culture, into the language,
into the food, into everything that I was doing in
that country. So Spain was a big you know, food
(06:04):
kind of family kind of culture. You know. For a start,
I couldn't believe how long the lunches went on for.
You know, we'd start lunch at two and still we
sat there at seven, and then they'd go for a sleep,
and then we'd come back and have dinner at eleven,
and I'd be like falling asleep at dinner. But I
loved everything about Spain, you know, from the ham on,
(06:27):
to the lomo, to you know, to everything that I
ate in Spain, I loved, but it's like the it's
the barnacles and you put them in a hot boiling
water only for not for long, and then you kind
of twist the end off and it's like it's very
chewy but very salty. So they're called but there is
(06:51):
um and yeah there they're barnacles and they're very difficult
to get. Literally, the guys tied themselves onto the side
out of these rocks. They then wait for the waves
to go out. They go down get them and then
come back up before the wave comes in. So it's
quite dangerous. And still now every time that I go
(07:16):
to Spain, every time that I go to Madrid, I
always come back with a leg of hammon. Always it
goes in the middle of the kitchen island and every
time that the kids walk past, they slice a piece off. Yeah,
but how was it being an athlete with a discipline?
(07:39):
But how did you marry your passion for food with
the discipline of having to be absolutely fit for a game?
Did food affect you? Did you eat? To be honest,
I was lucky. Food never really affected me, but I did,
you know, as much as I am sat here saying
you know, the crime fresh, the escar go that everything
(07:59):
that I talked about. I still try to eat in
the most healthy because obviously being an athlete, I have
to eat in the right way. But then I think
the dietary requirements now for athletes, especially in football, have
totally changed over the last twenty years now. When I
first joined Manchester United, you know, the canteen was all
(08:22):
about having steak and chips and beans, and then you
would have a jam roly poly or you'd have a
slice of chocolate cake. No after training so you'd have
a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate custard. But now
it's totally different. Now, it's totally different now. Well, it
depends where you play, what manager you know you're playing under.
(08:44):
You know, there were certain managers would that would only
want us to eat boiled chicken, which disgusting, but that's
that's how they felt that we should be eating. You know,
no catch up, you know, and then you have the opposite.
When I was living in Milan, I was kind of thinking,
how am I going to be fitness wise because I'm
(09:05):
going to be eating a lot of pasta, a lot
of olive oil, a lot of you know whatever. But
it was actually one of the fittest that I've ever
been in when I was playing in Milan, because I
think the produce is so clean, it's so good. The
quality of it was just incredible. So over the years,
it's definitely changed for sportsman. You know, I've been lucky
(09:26):
that I could kind of eat whatever I wanted, but
I've always been careful knowing that I can't have a
glass of wine four days before a game because I
don't want it to affect anything that I'm doing at
the weekends, even though it was only a glass, you know,
So I would always be very disciplined on that. And
do you think that athletes now are much very I
(09:47):
think that that's part of the culture now. I think
if you start it early enough, then it becomes part
of your life and part of your culture. It's what
we try and do with our kids, you know, we
try to educate them that, you know, if they eat
the right things and drink the right things and look
after theirselves now, you know, at such a young age,
then they'll continue it through through their lives. And I
(10:08):
think it's an important part of life. It's education, isn't it.
And I guess I could ask you a question of George, Bess,
couldn't I about one of my great memories of the park.
It was at Parkinson and the two of you there,
and I think, you know, I probably fell in love
with you that night because you were so respectful and
(10:29):
so generous to him that you know, I think there
was a point in the interview. I don't even know
when that was, but Richard, I watched where Parkinson asked
your question and you said, I'm in the presence of
you know, this man, and I think we should let
him talk. And that was very, very moving to me.
But he wasn't really taken care of, was he in
the world. But I think that he was part of
(10:49):
a culture, um, you know, and I was part of
really the start of my career, and a culture that
was totally different to what he's right now these days,
you know. But you know, George was the most amazing player,
the most amazing talent, and the most amazing person and
(11:11):
as well, you know, and I think that I was
I felt so honored to even be sat, you know,
on the same sofa next to him, in his presence
and he's such a special person. He was, you know,
one of my dad's here. My dad was always a
Bubby Charlton fan, but obviously George Best, you know, he's
(11:33):
a Mansester United fan at the end of the day,
my dad, So having me on the same program as
George Best probably was one of the highlights from my dad.
(11:56):
One of my most favorite restaurants is he's in clean
New York and it's this old pizza place that's been
there for a long time called Lucali's, and it's run
by Mark and he owns He owns Lucalis and it's
just simple, simple pizzas. He doesn't sell any alcohol in there.
(12:17):
So you turn up and he brings these amazing muscles
out amazing clams. He makes this spicy rigatoni, and then
he brings the pies. They call him pies. And I
always take like a great bottle of wine because I
love eating pizza with great wine. I do like to
(12:39):
go to fancy places from time to time, but I'm
more about the family style, you know, sitting there, great atmosphere.
You know, it doesn't, like I said, it doesn't have
to be fancy, doesn't have to be the most expensive
meal in the world doesn't have to be the most
amazing bottle of wine in the world. Just has to
be good people around table, good food, and you know,
(13:03):
atmosphere is important. That's when we thought when we opened
The River Cafe. There was this feeling in the eighties
that you either had the choice of eating really, really
well but being terrified of that you were dressed well
enough that you might be late, that you might insult
the chef, that you you didn't know the wine. There's
(13:23):
so many makes you feel stupid. But you would have
a good meal, or you could go to the local
and have a fantastic atmosphere but maybe not the greatest food.
And it wasn't just Rosing myself. There was Alice Walters,
and there was Rolie Lee and Wolfgang Park and there's
a whole generation that said, why can't we do both?
You know, I don't want to dress code in my restaurant,
(13:44):
but I want to serve really good food and I
don't want an intimidating wine waiter, but I want to
have really great wine. You know that you could have both,
and that you can have fun and have the drama
and eat really well. I think that's that's what's so
special about here in all honestly, you know, I think
the atmosphere, you know, you're you're you're going to always
eat great, the menu is constantly changing. You're not intimidated.
(14:09):
Whereas you know, I suppose in the early days where
I wasn't used to go into great restaurants or eating
great food or drinking great wine, I suppose there was
certain part of me that felt intimidated. But this is
a place where you walk in and there's not one
part of you that feels worried about ordering a bottle
(14:31):
of wine, order in a glass of right wine, or
ordering the wrong wine, or you know, it's it's special.
I know what I want the people who work for me,
and how I want them to to eat, and how
I want to make them come to work in an
environment where they can look out a window, where they
can feel that they're rested, you know, in the end,
where they want to come to work. Do you feel
(14:53):
that that is a responsibility of people who are in management,
without a doubt, you know, I think that I've I've
been lucky over the years to have been part of
some great teams. You know, obviously with the teams that
I've played for, playing for my country, representing my country.
I've been very lucky to be around great management, great teams,
(15:14):
great support, you know, with my family and my friends.
And now I have my own team within my own office.
And I want them to be as happy, you know,
as they are at home and when they come to work.
I think that's a really important part of running a business.
Um and I tried to do the same. A Victoria
tries to do the same with the kids as well.
(15:35):
You know, we want them to be happy, we want
them to be healthy. Did they cook with you? They do?
They actually Brooklyn Brooklyn actually loves cooking. He posts a
lot of the moment about things that he's making, things
that he's creating, but all the kids actually love it,
you know. And I think in the last eighteen months,
with all the lockdown and everything that has been happening,
(15:57):
you know, whether we were baking and whever we whether
we were you know, creating herb gardens. Me and Harper,
you know, built our own herb garden, you know, with
whether it was rocket and we had some mint and
we had some rosemary. So we've kind of created that
and actually we got very excited when we saw it
all come together. And then you know, every time that
(16:20):
Nana has a gin and tonic, you know, Harper goes
out into the herb garden, she cuts some rosemary off
and puts rosemary into the glass. So it's we had
a little bit of fun with that. We've talked about
so much about food as love as food as a connection.
But I suppose before we say goodbye and I go,
(16:40):
what would be David Beckham your comfort food? After me
talking about all of this great food that I taste
and all these great restaurants that I go to, you
know what my comfort food would be? A packet a
sort of vinegar discos good. I think that's what it
would be. Maybe a toasty made in the brevel toaster
(17:03):
with baked beans. Is that so the brevel toaster that
you So I put the bread in a little bit
of butter on the outside actually so it doesn't stick,
and then I put the baked beans in brevel toaster
for about four or five minutes, open it up, and
it's so that actually that in a packet of discoast,
(17:24):
no cheese, after all this great food, that's the comfort
is comfort is more of a crisp Man that makes
you feel like well, thank you, David, It's wonderful. Thank you,
You're welcome, Love you too. To visit the online Sharp
(17:47):
with the River Cafe, go to Sharp the River Cafe
dot co dot UK. River Cafe Table for is a
production of I Heart Radio and Atomi Studios. For more
podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
(18:08):
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to River Cafe, Table four, a production of I
Heart Radio and Adam I Studios. Okay, let's get the
show on the road, shall we. David Beckham say, she's
head chef. Where are you everything? Okay, whatever you want?
(00:21):
I want a job, Beckham, I would love a job.
You need a job. So I'm here today with Sean
win Owen, the head chef, and the River Cafe, and
my friend David Beckham. And it's now twenty two six
and people are coming into so the two of you
(00:41):
better get going. What are you going to make? We
are making? Hey, Telly, you're happy with that chef. I'm
more than happy with that, David. Okay, it's going to
cook for us. Okay, Oh yes, give it a really
good shake. Yea shake it shaking there go and a
(01:02):
bit of parsley. Oh yeah. What do you like cooking
at home? David? What do I like cooking at hard?
To be honest, my kids are obsessed with Italian food,
So the majority of the time they get mixed me
like a ragon because the kids love I could tell
(01:23):
when you're shaking the panel you weren't just an office yea,
quite impressive. You made it high are we done. Yes,
I think we could turn him. It's quite a useful shop.
And he has done a cooking course, it transpires. I'm
(01:48):
really impressed by that actually, So that was good. Now
it's time talk. Start beating and we'll talk. Can I
take you with me? Sit down and then take it
with Okay. We have an open kitchen, and one of
(02:08):
the great pleasures for me is being able to see
the reaction of people eating, whether they love it or
they don't love it, whether they share it or they
don't share it, whether they talk about it. You know,
it's part of the whole joy of eating out. And
I love open kitchens, you know. I like the interaction
that you can have with you know, what's going on
(02:29):
around you. You know, I like to see what the
chefs are doing. I'd like to see what what's being prepared.
To be honest, I've been so lucky because I lived
in Spain for four years, then I moved to America.
Then I spent eleven months in Italy, and then I
was back in America, and then I moved to Paris
for six months. So I had all of this kind
(02:50):
of education in you know, living in different places, eating
different foods, trying different things. You know, when I was
living in Paris, I was again Victoria and the kids
kids would going to school in London, so they obviously
couldn't live there with me. That had come out of
the weekends. So again, one of my favorite restaurants in
(03:11):
the world is Lammy Louis. I agree, absolutely, agree is
literally I would say it's probably one of my favorite
restaurants in the world for atmosphere, food, enjoyment, everything about it.
You know, from the moment I walked in, and you know,
(03:31):
all the waiters addressed in those white jackets, and whether
you're wearing a Bomber jacket or whether the most elegant
lady walks in and the Chanel coat. They take your
coat off, they fold it up and they throw it
above the head on the train. It's like a train carriage.
And my record for eating escargo is I've eaten thirty
(03:53):
two escargoes at one dinner. To the listener, can I
tell you those are big? I've had them then big
and they come on trees of six or nine I think,
and they come and I was in there for about
four hours with Victoria once and we had the most
amazing wine and everything about that restaurant. And I used
to go in there, and I shouldn't have done, because
(04:14):
obviously I was a professional athlete, and you know, I
tried to watch what I eat, but I just made
sure I ran harder than next day. So I used
to go in there once a week. They used to
let me come in. The first the service was at
seven thirty I think it was in the evening, and
that was no one was there at seven thirty either,
So I used to turn up at seven and by
the time the first people were coming through the door
(04:36):
around called it to eight o'clock, I was walking out.
So I used to do that once a week. I
used to go on my own. I didn't care that
I was on my own. I just didn't drink the wine.
But I just sat there and I the most amazing food.
I love it, and the pump feet of the bread
and everything about it. Unbelievable crime fresh at the end
(05:00):
in that tub of creme fresh air and they just
dollop it on the plate and the small strawberries. One
of the high points of my career is you know
the headwaiter, they're the one with the black hair. It's
not called Louis I can't remember his name, and he
came to the River Cafe with his family, with his
wife and his children, and it was really such a
(05:21):
it was such a moving experience for me to have
them there. So you actually had the experience of living
in the land. Yeah, I lived in Madrid. When I
first moved to Spain. I was twenty seven years old,
and I lived there for four years, and I became
really obsessed by wherever I would live in the world.
(05:43):
I decided in my head, Okay, this is where I'm
going to be for the rest of my life, because
I had to look at it like that, because I
wanted to throw myself into the culture, into the language,
into the food, into everything that I was doing in
that country. So Spain was a big you know, food
(06:04):
kind of family kind of culture. You know. For a start,
I couldn't believe how long the lunches went on for.
You know, we'd start lunch at two and still we
sat there at seven, and then they'd go for a sleep,
and then we'd come back and have dinner at eleven,
and I'd be like falling asleep at dinner. But I
loved everything about Spain, you know, from the ham on,
(06:27):
to the lomo, to you know, to everything that I
ate in Spain, I loved, but it's like the it's
the barnacles and you put them in a hot boiling
water only for not for long, and then you kind
of twist the end off and it's like it's very
chewy but very salty. So they're called but there is
(06:51):
um and yeah there they're barnacles and they're very difficult
to get. Literally, the guys tied themselves onto the side
out of these rocks. They then wait for the waves
to go out. They go down get them and then
come back up before the wave comes in. So it's
quite dangerous. And still now every time that I go
(07:16):
to Spain, every time that I go to Madrid, I
always come back with a leg of hammon. Always it
goes in the middle of the kitchen island and every
time that the kids walk past, they slice a piece off. Yeah,
but how was it being an athlete with a discipline?
(07:39):
But how did you marry your passion for food with
the discipline of having to be absolutely fit for a game?
Did food affect you? Did you eat? To be honest,
I was lucky. Food never really affected me, but I did,
you know, as much as I am sat here saying
you know, the crime fresh, the escar go that everything
(07:59):
that I talked about. I still try to eat in
the most healthy because obviously being an athlete, I have
to eat in the right way. But then I think
the dietary requirements now for athletes, especially in football, have
totally changed over the last twenty years now. When I
first joined Manchester United, you know, the canteen was all
(08:22):
about having steak and chips and beans, and then you
would have a jam roly poly or you'd have a
slice of chocolate cake. No after training so you'd have
a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate custard. But now
it's totally different. Now, it's totally different now. Well, it
depends where you play, what manager you know you're playing under.
(08:44):
You know, there were certain managers would that would only
want us to eat boiled chicken, which disgusting, but that's
that's how they felt that we should be eating. You know,
no catch up, you know, and then you have the opposite.
When I was living in Milan, I was kind of thinking,
how am I going to be fitness wise because I'm
(09:05):
going to be eating a lot of pasta, a lot
of olive oil, a lot of you know whatever. But
it was actually one of the fittest that I've ever
been in when I was playing in Milan, because I
think the produce is so clean, it's so good. The
quality of it was just incredible. So over the years,
it's definitely changed for sportsman. You know, I've been lucky
(09:26):
that I could kind of eat whatever I wanted, but
I've always been careful knowing that I can't have a
glass of wine four days before a game because I
don't want it to affect anything that I'm doing at
the weekends, even though it was only a glass, you know,
So I would always be very disciplined on that. And
do you think that athletes now are much very I
(09:47):
think that that's part of the culture now. I think
if you start it early enough, then it becomes part
of your life and part of your culture. It's what
we try and do with our kids, you know, we
try to educate them that, you know, if they eat
the right things and drink the right things and look
after theirselves now, you know, at such a young age,
then they'll continue it through through their lives. And I
(10:08):
think it's an important part of life. It's education, isn't it.
And I guess I could ask you a question of George, Bess,
couldn't I about one of my great memories of the park.
It was at Parkinson and the two of you there,
and I think, you know, I probably fell in love
with you that night because you were so respectful and
(10:29):
so generous to him that you know, I think there
was a point in the interview. I don't even know
when that was, but Richard, I watched where Parkinson asked
your question and you said, I'm in the presence of
you know, this man, and I think we should let
him talk. And that was very, very moving to me.
But he wasn't really taken care of, was he in
the world. But I think that he was part of
(10:49):
a culture, um, you know, and I was part of
really the start of my career, and a culture that
was totally different to what he's right now these days,
you know. But you know, George was the most amazing player,
the most amazing talent, and the most amazing person and
(11:11):
as well, you know, and I think that I was
I felt so honored to even be sat, you know,
on the same sofa next to him, in his presence
and he's such a special person. He was, you know,
one of my dad's here. My dad was always a
Bubby Charlton fan, but obviously George Best, you know, he's
(11:33):
a Mansester United fan at the end of the day,
my dad, So having me on the same program as
George Best probably was one of the highlights from my dad.
(11:56):
One of my most favorite restaurants is he's in clean
New York and it's this old pizza place that's been
there for a long time called Lucali's, and it's run
by Mark and he owns He owns Lucalis and it's
just simple, simple pizzas. He doesn't sell any alcohol in there.
(12:17):
So you turn up and he brings these amazing muscles
out amazing clams. He makes this spicy rigatoni, and then
he brings the pies. They call him pies. And I
always take like a great bottle of wine because I
love eating pizza with great wine. I do like to
(12:39):
go to fancy places from time to time, but I'm
more about the family style, you know, sitting there, great atmosphere.
You know, it doesn't, like I said, it doesn't have
to be fancy, doesn't have to be the most expensive
meal in the world doesn't have to be the most
amazing bottle of wine in the world. Just has to
be good people around table, good food, and you know,
(13:03):
atmosphere is important. That's when we thought when we opened
The River Cafe. There was this feeling in the eighties
that you either had the choice of eating really, really
well but being terrified of that you were dressed well
enough that you might be late, that you might insult
the chef, that you you didn't know the wine. There's
(13:23):
so many makes you feel stupid. But you would have
a good meal, or you could go to the local
and have a fantastic atmosphere but maybe not the greatest food.
And it wasn't just Rosing myself. There was Alice Walters,
and there was Rolie Lee and Wolfgang Park and there's
a whole generation that said, why can't we do both?
You know, I don't want to dress code in my restaurant,
(13:44):
but I want to serve really good food and I
don't want an intimidating wine waiter, but I want to
have really great wine. You know that you could have both,
and that you can have fun and have the drama
and eat really well. I think that's that's what's so
special about here in all honestly, you know, I think
the atmosphere, you know, you're you're you're going to always
eat great, the menu is constantly changing. You're not intimidated.
(14:09):
Whereas you know, I suppose in the early days where
I wasn't used to go into great restaurants or eating
great food or drinking great wine, I suppose there was
certain part of me that felt intimidated. But this is
a place where you walk in and there's not one
part of you that feels worried about ordering a bottle
(14:31):
of wine, order in a glass of right wine, or
ordering the wrong wine, or you know, it's it's special.
I know what I want the people who work for me,
and how I want them to to eat, and how
I want to make them come to work in an
environment where they can look out a window, where they
can feel that they're rested, you know, in the end,
where they want to come to work. Do you feel
(14:53):
that that is a responsibility of people who are in management,
without a doubt, you know, I think that I've I've
been lucky over the years to have been part of
some great teams. You know, obviously with the teams that
I've played for, playing for my country, representing my country.
I've been very lucky to be around great management, great teams,
(15:14):
great support, you know, with my family and my friends.
And now I have my own team within my own office.
And I want them to be as happy, you know,
as they are at home and when they come to work.
I think that's a really important part of running a business.
Um and I tried to do the same. A Victoria
tries to do the same with the kids as well.
(15:35):
You know, we want them to be happy, we want
them to be healthy. Did they cook with you? They do?
They actually Brooklyn Brooklyn actually loves cooking. He posts a
lot of the moment about things that he's making, things
that he's creating, but all the kids actually love it,
you know. And I think in the last eighteen months,
with all the lockdown and everything that has been happening,
(15:57):
you know, whether we were baking and whever we whether
we were you know, creating herb gardens. Me and Harper,
you know, built our own herb garden, you know, with
whether it was rocket and we had some mint and
we had some rosemary. So we've kind of created that
and actually we got very excited when we saw it
all come together. And then you know, every time that
(16:20):
Nana has a gin and tonic, you know, Harper goes
out into the herb garden, she cuts some rosemary off
and puts rosemary into the glass. So it's we had
a little bit of fun with that. We've talked about
so much about food as love as food as a connection.
But I suppose before we say goodbye and I go,
(16:40):
what would be David Beckham your comfort food? After me
talking about all of this great food that I taste
and all these great restaurants that I go to, you
know what my comfort food would be? A packet a
sort of vinegar discos good. I think that's what it
would be. Maybe a toasty made in the brevel toaster
(17:03):
with baked beans. Is that so the brevel toaster that
you So I put the bread in a little bit
of butter on the outside actually so it doesn't stick,
and then I put the baked beans in brevel toaster
for about four or five minutes, open it up, and
it's so that actually that in a packet of discoast,
(17:24):
no cheese, after all this great food, that's the comfort
is comfort is more of a crisp Man that makes
you feel like well, thank you, David, It's wonderful. Thank you,
You're welcome, Love you too. To visit the online Sharp
(17:47):
with the River Cafe, go to Sharp the River Cafe
dot co dot UK. River Cafe Table for is a
production of I Heart Radio and Atomi Studios. For more
podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
(18:08):
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Ruth Rogers
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