It’s The River Cafe Cafe, though, that represents the most significant expansion of the restaurant in more than three decades, with Rogers and her team converting what was once the offices of Richard Rogers Architects into a more casual (and affordable) space than The River Cafe proper. In the mornings, there will be espresso and pastries (ciambella, cornetti, crostata), while in the evenings, guests can sip aperitivi beneath canvases from Damien Hirst’s “Cherry Blossom” series. (The YBA’s studio neighbours the Cafe.) Savory dishes, too, will be available throughout the day—platters of zucchini blossoms and grilled peppers; a selection of salumi and formaggi; bruschetta topped with Vesuvius tomatoes and lardo di Colonnata – along with various dolci (including Chocolate Nemesis), all meant to be enjoyed either beside the river or gazing out at it through floor-to-ceiling windows. “It’s really the first ‘opening’ we’ve done since we started,” Rogers muses, “but, in so many ways, it harks back to the nature of The River Cafe in its infancy.”
Here, in honor of The River Cafe Cafe’s opening, Rogers shares some of her favorite summer recipes.
Raspberry Sorbet
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 thick skinned lemon
- 400g caster sugar
- 800g raspberries
Method
The riper the raspberries, the better the sorbet. Cut the lemon into 1cm (½-inch cubes), removing any seeds. Put the lemon into a food processor with 350g of the caster sugar. Blend until pureed with visible bits of lemon skin. Add the raspberries, then blend again until well mixed. Pour the mixture into a freezer-proof container and freeze for about 2 hours, stirring with a spoon to break up the crystals every 30 minutes until solid.
Zucchini Trifolati
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 12 small zucchini, trimmed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 125ml boiling water
- A handful of fresh mint or basil leaves, roughly chopped
Method
In The River Cafe kitchen, we all have our way of cooking this—some like zucchini with more color, others paler—but we all agree that the most important thing is that all the water is absorbed into the zucchini. Cut each zucchini at an angle into 3-4 slices. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic and then the zucchini, and cook slowly for 15-20 minutes. When brown on all sides, add the boiling water and stir, scraping up the mixture that will have formed on the bottom of the pan. Cook until all the water has been absorbed and the zucchini are soft. Add the mint or basil, season with sea salt and black pepper, and serve with prosciutto di Parma or mozzarella.
Slow Roasted Tomatoes with Basil
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 12 ripe plum tomatoes, halved lengthways
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, very finely sliced
- 24 basil leaves
Method
Cooking this on a very low heat dries out the tomatoes, concentrates the flavor, and makes them sweeter. Preheat the oven to 110 degrees Celsius or the lowest temperature. Put the tomatoes on a baking sheet, side by side. Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle with half the olive oil. Top each tomato with a thin piece of garlic and basil leaf. Roast in the oven for two hours 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes, gently flatten the tomatoes with a spoon, releasing their juices and concentrating the flavor. Carefully remove from the oven and serve at room temperature, drizzle with the remaining olive oil.