A stunning Italian cookbook collecting 120 recipes from the legendary restaurant that sets “the benchmark for Italian food outside of Italy" ( Eater ). At the River Cafe in London, Ruth Rogers and her co-founder, Rose Gray, helped to shape the way we eat, trained a new generation of chefs, and, with their best-selling cookbooks, transformed the way we prepare Italian food at home. Now, with River Cafe London, Ruth and her restaurant’s head chefs, Joseph Trivelli and Sian Wyn Owen, invite you to join them in marking thirty years of memories and good food--the simple, high-quality Italian cooking that River Cafe has been providing since 1987. Here are 120 recipes for incomparable antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni, and dolci--both revised and updated favorites from Ruth and Rose’s first cookbook, as well as thirty new classics from their menus today: Ravioli with Ricotta, Raw Tomato, and Basil; Spaghetti with Lemon; Risotto Nero with Swiss Chard; Pork Braised with Vinegar; and, of course, their famous Chocolate Nemesis cake. River Cafe London also incorporates Ruth’s memories of the restaurant’s storied history and of its founding: unseen archive images; careful cooking tips and hand-drawn illustrations; new photography by Jean Pigozzi and Matthew Donaldson; and bespoke menu designs from the restaurant’s many artist friends. This beautiful cookbook encapsulates the essence of the restaurant and its food--and is a must-have for all food lovers to cook from time and again.

ldquo;An instant classic. . . . Those who know the original blue book—or landmark restaurant—will fall in love with it all over again. Those who don’t have a surprise in store. . . . The River Cafe has always espoused the simple, ingredient-forward ways of the Italian kitchen; revisit it here and now in a book built to engage cooks for years to come.” —Eater

"Ruth Rogers celebrates 30 years of creating some of the most exciting Italian food outside of Italy. The book features classic recipes, new favorites, and memories of Rogers’s late cofounder, Rose Gray." —Rachael Ray Every Day

“Practically perfect in every way. It is artistic. It has a story to tell. . . . It doesn’t gussy up any of its food, which is a hallmark of the famous cafe on the Thames. . . . [These] Italian recipes are simple yet empowering.” —The Washington Post

“The next best thing to having Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray in your kitchen.” —*Goop
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“When Rogers Gray Italian Country Cookbook was published in 1995, it launched a food moment, the ripples of which are being felt to this day. . . . While the dishes at the fabled restaurant were flawless, the published recipes were . . . rather loosey-goosey. This stunningly designed edition corrects that, as the recipes have been tested and updated. Like the restaurant, they feel as vital as ever.” —Christine Muhlke, Bon Appétit
 
The original River Cafe Cookbook debuted in 1996, and this update transforms it into a book that feels as relevant and modern as anything written today. . . .  The overall ethos remains timeless: Simple food (many of the recipes feature 10 ingredients or less) merely requires great ingredients and an unwavering dedication to getting it right." —Grub Street

“[A] lovingly curated collection of favorites.” —The Wall Street Journal

“River Café London distinguishes itself as something worthy of both display and dinner-making. . . . Indeed, it might be worth getting a copy for the kitchen and the coffee table.” —T Magazine

“An intriguing mix of updated classic recipes from the restaurant and 30 new ones like ravioli with ricotta, raw tomato and basil—all of which are refreshingly straightforward in their tone. With art direction by Michael Nash Associates, which balances vintage menus drawn or painted on by artists who frequent the restaurant, with black and white photos inside the space, and crisp shots of food, the book belongs as much on a coffee table as it does in the kitchen.” —Food & Wine

“A vibrantly designed celebration of the restaurant’s 30th anniversary.” —Melissa Clark, *The New York Times
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"With its minimalist cover and hot-pink page edges, [River Cafe London] is a beautiful object in and of itself, but also feels very necessary. The 120 recipes culled from the playbook of this legendary London restaurant—where chefs Rogers and Gray transformed Italian staples into no-nonsense masterpieces—travel from fig and cannellini bean salad to pork braised in milk, garlic and sage, buttressed by gorgeous photography." —Newsday 

“This book, with its bold graphics and bright colors, is like an invitation to eat at one of the best restaurants in the world. . . . I hope River Cafe London will change your life the way working at The River Cafe changed mine.” —April Bloomfield, from the Foreword

Autorentext

Ruth Rogers, Sian Wyn Owen, Joseph Trivelli, and Rose Gray

Leseprobe
Change is timeless. A good restaurant is alive. It lives, it grows and so do its recipes.
 
In the twenty-two years since we wrote our first cookbook or “the blue book,” as it has become known, much has changed—the way we eat, the way we shop and the way we cook. There has been an explosion in the availability of ingredients. Vegetables arrive daily from the Milan market, mozzarella is flown in from Naples, people grow herbs in their window boxes and salad leaves in their gardens.
 
Everyone is a chef.
 
Our first book, The River Cafe Cookbook, was written originally to be a manual for our own chefs to follow. But, as chefs, we have grown as well. We have traveled all over Italy, from Piemonte to Sicily, discovering new ingredients, new methods and, most of all, new people to expand our knowledge of the food we love. So, in thirty years, our book has changed.
 
To celebrate our thirtieth birthday, we returned to our first recipes in the blue book. Here we share our knowledge and experience of how we have refined those classic dishes.
 
Mixed in with the revisited classics are more than thirty new recipes created through our work and travels together: Mezze Paccheri, Black Pepper and Langoustine, an eccentric combination of langoustines with Pecorino; White Asparagus with Bottarga Butter, a variation on the classic anchovy sauce; and Crab and Raw Artichoke Salad.
 
The design of The Essential River Cafe, by Anthony Michael and Stephanie Nash, is inspired by the bold art, architecture and bright colors of the restaurant—the pink wood oven, the yellow pass, the blue carpet. The Joseph Albers font, throughout the book, reflects these qualities.
 
Matthew Donaldson photographed the food on sunny days in our garden. Jean Pigozzi, who took the dynamic black-and-white photographs of the restaurant in action for our first book, returned to capture the customers, chefs and waiters who are the River Cafe family.
 
The Essential River Cafe is the story of a restaurant that began with two unknown chefs and a space large enough for nine tables.
 
We have grown. We have a new vision, but the same conclusion: with good ingredients and a strong tradition, change and recipes can be timeless.
 
 
Spaghetti with Lemon
Serves 6
 
½ pound (225g) spaghetti
juice of 3–4 lemons, preferably Amalfi lemons
⅔ cup (150ml) olive oil
5 ounces (140g) Parmesan, freshly grated
2 handfuls of fresh basil, leaves picked and finely chopped
finely grated lemon zest (opti…