The River Café
The Italian restaurant that trained more serious British chefs than anywhere else. Ruth Rogers has been doing this since 1987. The wood-burning oven is the point. The prices are what they are.
The River Café has been on the Thames in Hammersmith since 1987, and whatever has changed in London dining across those decades, Ruth Rogers' commitment to seasonal Italian cooking with the best possible ingredients has made nothing feel anything other than current. The restaurant launched more serious British chefs than almost any institution — Heston Blumenthal's trajectory, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's, many others passed through this kitchen and took something specific away from it.
The wood-burning oven is the focal point. The pasta changes with the season. The ingredients are sourced as if someone's reputation depended on them, because someone's does. The garden in summer is the room you want. The prices reflect the produce and the address: accept them or don't come.
Seasonal Italian, ingredient-obsessed, wood-oven-driven. The pasta dishes are the kitchen at its best. The secondi from the oven are the move for the table that wants to linger.
A bright, airy Hammersmith space with views to the Thames and a garden that becomes the best table in the restaurant in warm months. The room has the confidence of a kitchen that doesn't need to perform.
THE PASTA OF THE DAY · WHOLE FISH OR MEAT FROM THE WOOD OVEN · CHOCOLATE NEMESIS
The River Café is one of the most important restaurants Britain has produced. For Italian cooking at the level of serious Italian cooking, and the room to match, there is no better address in London.
Reserve well in advance — this room fills weeks out, especially on weekends.
Ask for a table in the main room and let the pasta and antipasti lead the order.