From the Archives: Sarah Jessica Parker on the importance of food in Sex and the City, cooking with her husband, and pork chops.

Ruthie's Table 4

In this live episode of Ruthie's Table, host Ruthie Rogers sits down with Sarah Jessica Parker at the River Cafe to discuss her profound con

Key takeaways

• SJP describes the River Cafe kitchen as having the high-energy atmosphere of a pinball machine or ballet.
• In 'Sex and the City', food scenes were used strategically to facilitate character dialogue and shared perspectives.

Main topics

• Food and connection in Sex and the City
• Daily cooking rituals with Matthew Broderick

Notable quotes

The kitchen, she said, feels like the inside of a pinball machine with energy bouncing between the different stations.

Conclusion

A heartwarming exploration of how culinary experiences serve as a foun

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. I'm Melissa Jeltsin, host of the What Happened to Her podcast. We're kicking off the season with the Sandra Birchmore story, a case the police wrote off as a suicide in a snowstorm. Her family never bought it, and the man they suspected wore a badge. You Speaker 2 (0:19) never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform. Speaker 5 (0:24) And you can get access to all episodes 100 % ad-free with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription exclusively on Apple Podcasts, available only to iHeart True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus, and subscribe today. Speaker 1 (0:50) Hi, everyone. Welcome to the River Cafe. I can't think of a nicer place to be on a sunny spring morning than here. We have a live audience for this very special episode that features Sarah Jessica Parker, hosted by, of course, Ruthie Rogers. Enjoy the interview and we'll be taking questions later. Speaker 7 (1:11) The first time that Sarah Jessica Parker and I spoke, the tables were turned. She was on the phone in the River Cafe kitchen, and I was on a beach in Mexico. It was really hard to hear her with the noise of pots and pans, the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean, but her dazzling warmth traveled the 6,000 miles. If the phone connection was poor, the friendship connection was instant. Last Sunday, she was in the River Cafe with her family, and I was there with mine. They were sitting on table one, just a few feet from the pink wood oven, close to the drama of the kitchen, and there she was, dazzling and warm. How does all this work, Ruthie? How do you make sure that Matthew's ravioli comes out the same time as my asparagus bagna cotta? This kitchen, she said, feels like the inside. of a pinball machine with energy bouncing between the different stations. How do you all have the energy to do both lunch and dinner? Now, I suppose if I went backstage to Plaza Suite, the play that Sarah is doing here with her husband, Matthew Broderick, I would have similar questions. How does this work, Sarah? What do you do if someone forgets their lines? And how do you all have the energy to do a matinee and an evening performance? Today, we're here, not miles apart, inches apart, two friends together. Surrounded by all of you great people. What a connection. Speaker 4 (2:48) Thank you, Ruthie. Thank you. Speaker 7 (2:51) So, Speaker 4 (2:51) here we are. Did you ever work in a restaurant? No, but I say this knowing how hard it is. I think I would really love to be a server. Like, I really... Speaker 1 (3:02) I think that I know how hard Speaker 7 (3:04) it is. You're a bit Speaker 1 (3:04) worried about this Speaker 4 (3:04) summer. Yeah, she is higher. We were really admiring your servers the other day because I said to the girls, I was like, I'm not sure that I've seen servers move this fast in a long time because Sunday is a very busy day for you guys, right? Like, especially so. That day was a really busy day. And I was saying to somebody, and I said, you know, I don't get to come to the River Cafe very often. I don't live in London. To myself, to Matthew, it's like a very, it's like a special thing. It's like something you earn or maybe you work toward or you pine about and then you visit it and you're not sure if you made it all up. Speaker 5 (3:45) Like, Speaker 4 (3:46) is it possible that you joined a sort of cult, like a kind of thinking about it? Can it be? And then you come here, my handicap, it is. And the kitchen really is. It's extraordinary to watch. It is like a pinball machine, but it's like there's such precision about it. And I love watching the chefs talk to each other quickly in passing or actually come together to speak. I don't know. It's amazing. And it's glorious. We were thrilled to be here, really. Well, we're thrilled to Speaker 7 (4:20) have you. And when we first did the completely open kitchen, you will remember after the fire, Richard Ayer, who's the director of the theater, came in and I said, Richard. Isn't this just like theater, you know, watching everyone around? And he said, actually, Ruthie, it isn't. It's like ballet. Speaker 5 (4:38) And Speaker 7 (4:38) he said, because watching people, everybody, you can't shout in an open kitchen. I mean, sometimes raise your voice. But basically, you're moving around to speak to people about if you need to. Usually there's a kind of communication. And Speaker 4 (4:52) this time I had the ravioli with the spinach and the ricotta and those tiny, gorgeous porcini mushrooms that are like a surprise. They don't talk about that as much. And we ordered two. And I was like, my daughter said, do you think we can order another one? Jane Sulkey said, can we order another one? Which just seems so like gluttonous and decadent and greedy. And then I was like, you know what? Yes, and if anybody says anything, I'll just say, we'll take it. Like, I'm sorry that we're being so like animals about this, but it's a kind of, it's good to think of it as this kind of once in a lifetime. It's just incredible. One of the things I think Speaker 7 (5:37) that we all, probably everyone in this room would think about was that in Sex and the City and the way you talk about food, the joy. So many conversations were over food, and it was the pleasure of food. It was enjoying food as a way of communicating and being together, which we all feel here, that a restaurant is a place where you share food. You're sitting down at the table or at home with your children. Speaker 4 (6:02) And Speaker 7 (6:03) so how is that working in Sex and the City? Was that from you? I always loved Speaker 4 (6:08) food scenes. I think it was initially... Speaker 4 (6:13) in place, I think, probably from either Candice's original source material or Darren Star wrote that first coffee shop scene, which I think was just a great meeting place to sort of talk about the themes of each episode, like get the headline out, and then each person, those kind of archetypal characters, would share points of view so we knew where everybody stood and it allowed for... controversial conversation or titillating conversation. But I will say this, that Cynthia Nixon, who is a dear friend of mine, and we've been working together since we were little girls. We've known each other since we were 11 or 10. She was a child actor also, and we would always audition together. She often got the part. But we played siblings when I was very young. We played... sisters on records. They used to do records of stories. And we played Laura and Mary Ingalls. And then we played siblings of, we played children of Vanessa Redgrave in a movie. But Cynthia and I in those coffee shop scenes, we always eat. Yeah. We always eat. And we always need to like re-prop our plate. And then when we finally wrap, they'll always, they always said to Cynthia, me and Cynthia, Do you guys want to take it to go again today? We're like, yes, we do. So we really like those scenes. And we very much go back and forth about what do you think? They'll send the menu in advance now, now that we all have the phones and things. Because they want you to order in advance for props to have everything ready and multiples of it. So we'll go back and forth. What did you order? Are you going to order that? I'll order that so you order that and we can share. So the food is like the lines are blurred. It's kind of Speaker 7 (8:05) a Speaker 4 (8:05) joy of food, Speaker 7 (8:05) though, isn't it? Yes, absolutely. It Speaker 4 (8:07) was a way Speaker 7 (8:07) of women eating. Speaker 4 (8:08) Yes. Speaker 7 (8:08) It was something that we are all thinking about how we combine, you know, food. And I think it's changed. You find that your daughters are different now in terms of their attitude? Yeah. Speaker 4 (8:19) I mean, I never was very disciplined about it. Speaker 4 (8:26) I think I'm not really good at denying myself something. And I think also I was a dancer for so long and running around, so I was able to be that way. It's certainly not the same now. But I also just, when I had girls, I just was so, I didn't want them to have a relationship with food that... was antagonistic or they felt like this was their enemy and that they were going to have to sort of like stake out a position with food. So when I was growing up, we weren't allowed sugar in the house and we were allowed cookies and we weren't allowed chocolate. And of course, all we did the minute we moved out was buy Entenmann's cakes and cookies. And, you know, and I didn't want that. So in our house, we have cookies, we have cake, we have everything. And I think as a result, you kind of have a healthier relationship. And my daughters will have the figures they have and hopefully they'll be healthy and they're athletes and they enjoy food and they have different palates and you can't make someone like something they don't like or want. And I hope that they... Speaker 4 (9:35) I hope that they can maintain their affection for the experience and their delight in taste and find their own ways to have that be healthy for them. Speaker 7 (9:48) And Speaker 4 (9:48) your son. He's absolutely Speaker 7 (9:50) mad Speaker 4 (9:51) for food. It Speaker 7 (9:51) was fantastic to meet all three of them were just, you know, involved in the food and talking about the food and asking questions Speaker 4 (10:00) about Speaker 7 (10:00) food on Speaker 4 (10:00) Sunday. Speaker 7 (10:01) Matthew Speaker 4 (10:02) Cook. Matthew Cook's. We both cook every single day. Every day? Every single day. Every day. We probably eat dinner as a family. Every night if I'm shooting or he's doing a play obviously that shifts around we always have dinner Sunday night But one of us if we're home cooks every single day And we love to cook and it's boring to keep saying to each other. What are we gonna eat? What are we gonna eat? Are you gonna go to the grocery store? Am I gonna go to the market but it's kind of just What we do yesterday. I what did you Speaker 7 (10:37) eat last night? Speaker 4 (10:38) Last night we went to a restaurant in Chinatown really quickly after the show. But I had made, during the day, I made lamb stew and Matthew made a white bean soup. So we knew we had that. I actually was bringing some to my son. But I like to have it in the fridge for matinee days. But we cook every night because... Speaker 4 (11:04) I don't know why. We never understood ordering. We didn't get ordering in in time, and now we're too old. I don't know how to use a thing. And every now and then we'll say, should we, you know, but I'll still call a restaurant and order it. Send a taxi to pick it up. We pick it up or they deliver it, but we Speaker 7 (11:27) love cooking. I don't know why. Do you think that's part of the drama? Do you think it's part of theater, part of being an actor? It's separate from what you do, is it a time? I know that when I was working, I would always come home and everybody would say, sit down and relax. And I found the most kind of relaxing thing to do was to cook. To be in Speaker 4 (11:45)