I went to the River Cafe, where Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson had a recent date night. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson recently went to the River Cafe in London. The River Cafe is one of the city’s most famous restaurants and helped revolutionize its dining scene.
I had one of the best pastas I’ve ever tasted at the River Cafe, along with other amazing dishes. There’s rarely a dull moment in the lives of Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson. But when it comes to date night, the famous duo is very consistent — and very into Italian cuisine.
Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson love going out for Italian food. Kim Kardashian/InstagramFrom Davidson’s regular pizza place in Staten Island to Kardashian’s favorite Santa Monica spot to grab pasta, the two are frequently seen enjoying Italian cuisine together. They’ve even posted romantic Instagram photos of themselves cuddling in front of empty plates at Jon & Vinny’s in LA.
A post shared by Kim Kardashian (@kimkardashian) So it’s little surprise that on a recent trip to London, Kardashian and Davidson skipped the fish and chips and went straight for some delicious pasta. Kardashian and Davidson recently dined at the River Cafe, one of the most famous restaurants in London. Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson on May 30, 2022, in London.
MEGA/GC ImagesRuth Rogers and Rose Gray opened the River Cafe in London’s Hammersmith neighborhood in 1987. Rogers — who was born in New York — had only briefly worked in a restaurant as a waitress when she decided to open a cafeteria at her husband’s architectural firm along the River Thames. She joined forces with Gray, who shared her love and passion for Italian cooking.
Together, the two women helped revolutionize London’s dining scene in the 1980s as the River Cafe grew into a full-blown restaurant that was getting more popular by the second. Rogers and Gray wanted to create an environment that was welcoming rather than intimidating — where you didn’t need to be an angry chef to run a kitchen, and you didn’t need to wear designer clothes to enjoy the best ingredients. “We broke the rules and gave chefs more days off, took our team on trips to Italy, things that felt eccentric at the time — but for us were core values,” Rogers wrote in an op-ed for the Huffington Post in 2017.
“Once you walk through the door, you are ours. We look after you. You are surrounded by friends.
You feel welcome, you feel safe. ” The River Cafe received its first Michelin star in 1998 and has held on to it ever since. The River Cafe is in London’s Hammersmith neighborhood.
Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderThe restaurant helped launch the careers of a number of famous chefs, including Jamie Oliver, and has become as much of a celebrity hot spot as Nobu in Malibu, California. Steve Martin called it the best Italian food in the world, Gwyneth Paltrow has worked in the kitchen, Elton John once performed in the dining room, and the restaurant gets 1,000 phone calls a day from people trying to find a table, according to The Wall Street Journal. After scoring a last-minute opening on a recent Saturday, I made my way to the River Cafe.
The restaurant is located in a quiet residential neighborhood. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderI checked the reservations page every day for more than a week, determined to try it during a recent trip to London. My efforts (or just some good luck) paid off one Friday when I spotted a 12 p.
m. lunch reservation for the very next day. When my Uber pulled up to the address that gloomy Saturday, I was surprised to find myself in a quiet residential neighborhood.
I thought I’d been dropped off at the wrong place until I saw a small white-and-blue sign on the big brick building in front of me. While the exterior looked a bit plain, the dining room was airy and bright. I loved the dining room’s blue carpet.
Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderThe River Cafe’s cobalt-blue carpet — which ran through the dining room — added a modern touch that I hadn’t been expecting from a restaurant open longer than I’ve been alive. One of the long walls featured floor-to-ceiling windows that gave us a perfect view of the outdoor patio, where the turquoise tables added a splash of color against the gray London sky. Dishes were laid out along the bar of the open kitchen, showcasing the River Cafe’s fresh ingredients.
Fresh plates of ingredients sat on the open bar as we walked in. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderFrom the start, Rogers and Gray were committed to using the best ingredients — no matter the effort. Gray grew her own Tuscan kale in the restaurant’s garden when she couldn’t find it in any UK restaurants.
And the oft-repeated story of Rogers buying a business-class seat for a perfect pumpkin she found in Italy — while she and Gray sat in economy — is now part of the River Cafe’s legend. The restaurant sources fresh produce directly from Milan every week and all of the staff, including the waiters, help prep the ingredients. Chef Sian Wyn Own and manager Charles Pullan told Staff Meals of the World that this gives everyone at the River Cafe an integral understanding of the menu, and includes them in the magic of making a meal for every table.
But the real star of the room was the Barbie-pink pizza oven firing away. A bright-pink pizza oven added a burst of color to the dining room. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderA big, bright clock that changed colors hung just behind the oven.
Together, they added a cheerful and whimsical touch to the restaurant that reminded me of “Alice in Wonderland. ” I quickly realized that nothing at the River Cafe was stuffy or expected. After we sat down, fresh focaccia bread was immediately brought to our table.
The fresh focaccia bread was delicious. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderThis bread was such a lovely way to start the meal. The focaccia was deliciously fluffy and so nicely seasoned.
We cleared the plate within seconds. Then we checked out the menu, which changes twice a day. The River Cafe’s lunch menu on the day of my visit.
Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderRogers — who became the sole owner of the River Cafe after Gray died from cancer in 2010 — still goes to the restaurant every day she’s in London and expertly turns out new lunch and dinner menus based on the fresh produce they have available. “In the UK, you go to the supermarket with a menu in your head. In Italy, you look in the cupboard and see what’s there — you go to the market, you see what’s best,” Rogers wrote in her Huffington Post op-ed.
She added: “That’s how we work in the River Cafe. We come in the morning, see what’s been ordered, see the team we have, and then we write the menu. “We started with the antipasto di verdure, a gorgeous plate full of fresh colorful veggies.
The antipasto di verdure featured roasted red peppers and Italian spinach. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderMy friend Billie — who I brought along to help sample some dishes — is vegan, so we kicked off our meal with this appetizer of roasted red peppers, Italian spinach, trombetta squash, and freshly-baked borlotti beans. At £27, which is around $32.
76, the price for this plate of veggies is definitely eye-watering — but wow were they fresh. The red peppers had a lovely char, the spinach was cooked to perfection, and I was a huge fan of the smooth and creamy borlotti beans. Everything was topped off with a drizzle of olive oil that was so lovely it would’ve made Ina Garten’s heart sing.
Rogers’ commitment to incredible ingredients was obvious from the get-go. “It’s simple because they know the ingredients can shine on their own,” Billie said. “They let the ingredients sing.
” Plus, the careful plating was beautiful. Billie remarked that she felt like she was eating with her eyes as well. I didn’t know how good mozzarella could taste until I had it at the River Cafe.
The Mozzarella di Bufala was served alongside a fresh bruschetta. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderThe Mozzarella di Bufala — priced the same as our antipasto — is served alongside a bruschetta of wood-roasted Daterrini, San Marzano, and marinated Vesuvio tomatoes, as well as basil. This was another deceptively simple dish that blew me away with the freshness of the ingredients.
The Buffalo Mozzarella was out of this world incredible. The cheese immediately melted in my mouth when I tried my first forkful without the bruschetta. I then spread some along the perfectly fluffy bread, topping it with a few of the tomatoes.
The bite was crispy, creamy, sweet, and acidic all at once — truly a feast for the senses. The colors of the tomatoes were gorgeous, and everything tasted as if it came straight from the garden. As a huge cheese lover, I was in absolute heaven.
It was time to dive into the pastas, and we began with the Tagliarini al pomodoro. The Tagliarini al pomodoro was light and flavorful. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderThis pasta dish — which cost £26, or around $31.
63 — features fresh pasta with slow-cooked Pugliese tomatoes. As with the appetizers that came before it, the dish was beautifully plated. The tagliarini noodles were light and nicely slicked with the tomato sauce.
I could really tell that the pasta was fresh and made in-house. Billie said this was one of the best tomato pastas she’s ever had. I thought the dish had great flavor, but couldn’t help but compare it to the spaghetti pomodoro I tried at Giorgio Baldi back in LA.
The pasta (a Rihanna favorite) also sticks to a few ingredients, but its delicately sweet tomato sauce has stayed with me for months — it was that memorable. Next up was the risotto, which was full of surprising textures and flavors. I loved this earthy risotto, which featured Italian pancetta and broad beans.
Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderThe risotto — which was £27, or around $33 — features Italian pancetta, broad beans, chicken stock, and Parmesan cheese. Risotto isn’t usually the most photogenic dish, but the green beans added a really nice pop of color to this plate. My friend Ollie, a UK native, told me he still remembered the risotto he had at the River Cafe 12 years ago, so I was very excited for this dish.
Risotto seems to be one of those signature items that always end up, in some form, on Rogers’ menu. The words I’d use to describe this risotto are earthy, unique, and comforting. The rice was perfectly cooked — not mushy like risotto can so easily become — and the pancetta added this savory smokiness that contrasted nicely with the broad beans’ fresh crunch.
All the ingredients worked together to create a dish that was both delicious and surprising to my palate. But nothing prepared me for falling in love with this plate of ravioli. The fresh ravioli — stuffed with ricotta cheese and mushrooms — blew me away.
Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderI love pasta. Like really, really love pasta. Pasta recipes by Ina Garten are what got me through the pandemic, and rare is the week I go by without having some kind of bolognese, ragu, or carbonara in my stomach.
So please believe me when I say that this ravioli by the River Cafe was on another level — maybe another universe. “AMAZING,” was the first thing I breathlessly wrote in my notes after the first bite of this £27, or around $33, ravioli, which featured fresh pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese and summer chanterelle mushrooms alongside sage butter. It is one of the best pastas I’ve ever tasted.
The ravioli’s filling was decadent and savory. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderThe River Cafe’s ravioli was deliciously decadent and savory, but still had a lightness thanks to the nice balance between flavors. The creamy, cheesy pasta melted in my mouth, while the sage butter — which really came through — added that herby earthiness.
The dish was unlike any ravioli I’ve ever had. I was so blown away by the pasta, I spent the next two weeks showing pictures of it to my parents, boyfriend, friends, coworkers, strangers at weddings — truly everyone and anyone who would listen. No meal is complete without dessert, so we tried some of the River Cafe’s famous gelato.
We also tried the Stracciatella gelato and strawberry sorbet. Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderThere are five different flavors on the River Cafe’s dessert menu and all are priced at £10, or around $12. The Stracciatella was calling my name, and we also ordered a strawberry sorbet.
My gelato was deliciously sweet and creamy, with plenty of chocolate shavings. And Billie was extremely impressed with the sorbet. “I’m shocked by how much flavor it has,” she told me.
“This is one of the best sorbets I’ve had in my life — and I’ve had many. ” The River Cafe is a must-visit whether you’re a local or a tourist in London. The River Cafe is definitely one of the best restaurants in London.
Anneta Konstantinides/InsiderRogers keeps her dishes simple because she cares so much about the ingredients, allowing each one to have a starring role. The point is to experience everything — the fresh pasta, the cheese, the simple broad bean — in its purest form. It’s no wonder she and Gray managed to revolutionize the entire cuisine of one of the biggest cities in the world.
There’s no way I’ll skip a chance to go back when I’m in London again. And now I understand why so many of my British friends can remember the dish they ate at the River Cafe, even a decade later. Because I’m definitely going to be talking about that ravioli forever.
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From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/the-river-cafe-london-review-2022-7
