The River Café (London) facts for kids
The River Café is a famous restaurant in London, England. It's known for its delicious Italian food. Two talented chefs, Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, started and ran the restaurant together. After Rose Gray passed away in 2010, Ruth Rogers became the only owner.
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Where is The River Café?
The River Café is in Hammersmith, a part of London. It sits right by the River Thames, which is a famous river in England. You can get there easily by taking the tube to Hammersmith station.
The building used to be a place where oil was stored for a company called Duckhams. Ruth Rogers' husband, Lord Rogers, who is a famous architect, helped change the building. The restaurant first opened in 1987. It started as a small café just for the people who worked at his architecture firm. The restaurant also has a lovely garden where you can see the River Thames.
Delicious Italian Food
The River Café is famous for its amazing Italian dishes. Some of their special foods include wild mushroom risotto, which is a creamy rice dish. They also serve fresh fish like Dover sole and John Dory. These fish are smoked right at the restaurant in their own wood stove.
For dessert, they have rich Italian sweets. Two popular ones are the lemon almond cake and a chocolate cake called "Nemesis."
Awards and Famous Chefs
The River Café is highly praised by food critics. It even earned a special award called a Michelin star in 1997. This star means it's one of the best restaurants around!
Many successful chefs learned their skills at The River Café. Some of these chefs are Theo Randall and April Bloomfield. Even famous TV chefs like Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and Ben O'Donoghue trained here.
Cookbooks and Special Honors
Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers wrote six cookbooks together. Some of their popular books include Italian Easy and The London River Café Cook Book. Their very first book, Italian Country Cookbook, won an award for being the best food book of the year.
They also had their own TV show! It was called The Italian Kitchen and was shown on Channel 4.
In 2010, both Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray received a special honor. They were named Members of the British Empire (MBE). This award recognized their great work in the restaurant world.
Rose Gray passed away in 2010.
