From The Archive: Nancy Pelosi - Part 2

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0:48That's why over 200 ,000 happy customers have made the switch. Upgrade your space today. Visit washablesofas.com now and bring home a sofa made for life. That's washablesofas.com. Offers are subject to change, and certain restrictions may apply. Welcome to River Cafe Table 4, a production of iHeartRadio and Atomize Studios.

1:15Is it 7? What time is it? Is it 7? Okay, well, they want us to, yeah. Not time to eat yet, but... A few weeks ago, a very special person came to dinner at our home. Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. I can't wait. I can't wait. Tonight we're having two chocolate desserts. I saw that. Okay. I was thinking that can make that my whole meal. Yeah, exactly. But I won't. Before greeting the other guests, Nancy and I talked together about food and politics, food and family, food in her Italian-American childhood, and being the mother of five children. We also spent quite a lot of time talking about our shared passion for chocolate ice cream.

2:09My husband and I got married. We lived in New York. Now, New York, for me, when I was a young girl, a child, really, our family would go to New York regularly. We'd go to plays, we'd go to dinner, all that. New York was like heaven. So here we were, young, married, in Manhattan. Paul was working, but we didn't have children yet the first year. And what kind of restaurants would you seek out? We had, shall we say, champagne taste and beer bottle purses. So we'd save them and go. We would go to the best restaurants as if we were entitled almost. Or we would just go to the neighborhood Italian-American restaurant in New York or something, or the corner place to have whatever it was.

2:59But New York was great because, for example, if you wanted to have chopped chicken livers, oh my gosh, the best place in the world for chopped chicken. You know, anything you wanted the best was there. Carry out, that would be. But we were largely into dining out. Then we had children, and then it was more. And so when you were bringing up the children, did you follow your mother's footsteps? Did you have somebody helping you? No, no, we had no help. None. I mean, that was a different world. When you have five children in six years, help doesn't come anywhere near your house. They take detours.

3:39Oh, you mean help wouldn't come near you? Oh, my gosh. No. Why would they? They could go work with somebody with one child or two children. Why would they go to work with somebody with five children? So how did you do it, Nancy? It was intense. It was intense, but I would love to do it all over again. It was the most glorious thing. You lived in an apartment in New York? Was that time you were in San Francisco? No, we had four children in New York. We did. We left New York. We had four children. The oldest was four. And we had a lovely apartment in Beekman Place. Yeah. And then we moved to San Francisco and had a big home.

4:17I mean, we didn't realize how small our apartment was until we moved into a home in San Francisco, and that was lovely. And then we had our fifth child there. And how did you cook for five children? Did you both cook? Did you cook? How did you feed them? Healthily. Yeah, healthily. They'll not say that I was a great cook. I mean, it was standard fare. And then as they got older, I just got tired of washing pots and pans. I didn't want to wash any more pots and pans. So I developed a practice where I would go to like some place like MacArthur Park, which was a restaurant then, that had the greatest ribs.

5:01Or we'd go to La Roca's, which was a seafood place. Or we'd go to Chinatown, Peking Deng. And I would make a salad and I would bring home this food. Now, it wasn't strictly carry out like fast food. It was delicious food from these restaurants. We had this meal, linens, salad. So when I went to Congress, my youngest daughter, Alexandra, she said, Mother, I'm so proud of you because you're a pioneer. I said, really, because I'm a woman member of Congress? She said, no. Remember when you used to cook and then you stopped? Well, now a lot of people stop cooking, but you were the first to stop. Oh, good.

5:43That's good. You said it. Pioneer. You said it. Yeah, pioneer. Oh, it is a liberation, isn't it? It can be creative cooking. It can be exciting. It can be relaxing, I think. And it's going to be a family affair. Yeah. It's a lovely thing. But three times a day. Exactly. Exactly. And with five children, five will get you ten every time because they bring. So it's a thing. Yeah. But the pots got me, the pots and pans that got me. So you got some help. I think that's good. And then the children got older. You then became more and more involved in politics and participating. Almost they were in school all day.

6:19How did food fit into that life? I mean, how did it fit into working and being a working mother? Well, the children would call it child labor, but we would have many events at our home all the time. and we always had food. You know, the Democrats, it was about people coming together, people coming. So we would always have food so that kids would help prepare. And they say to this day, you know, for every salmon on a bagel, we'd eat one and put one on the tray, you know, these little ones. And when we would have dinners, I hope none of our guests hear this, but here's how we would do it.

7:02Say we have, like, many, many people coming to dinner. Once we had nearly 200, we had a big house. We bought one of those pools, you know, those little pools that children, you inflate it, fill it with water, and wash the lettuce in there. Then you put it in a pillowcase, tie a knot in it, and you put it on the spin cycle. Yeah, the spin. In the dishwasher. No, in the washing machine. The washing machine. The washing machine. We have to be very careful because sometimes I would tell people when they get it mixed up, they put it in the dryer, that doesn't work.

7:42Had been the spin cycle of the washing machine and come out crispy. You have to have a big thing to wash the lettuce in, and then spin cycle. Have any of your children taken on that recipe for a salad? No, I don't think so. I think that they don't entertain 100 people at a time.

8:07I think shopping is a hard thing to do, don't you think? Getting the shopping done. Well, we have a little motto. If I don't have to shop for it, cook it, or clean it up, I'm all in for it, whatever it is. But that's not your life. Cooking is very important. It's an art. I remember fascinating my grandchildren by having them put a mountain of flour, each had their mountain of flour, break eggs in that, mix it up, this, that, and that, let it sit, roll it out, put it through the machine and in the pot of water and they're eating pasta that was a mound of flour with an egg in the middle. They had their own individual mound of eggs.

8:53cooking in a restaurant, I say, people say to me, how can you cook for 200 people when I can't cook for eight? And I go, I don't think I can cook for eight. It's much harder, you know, because in a restaurant, it's so collaborative. You have somebody chopping the parsley and somebody helping you pick the crab. I think for a lot of people, cooking at home is a performance and, you know, and it's quite hard to entertain. You feel that you are being judged or is it good enough? Well, is it hot? That's the whole thing. And is it hot? Keeping it hot. Yeah. That's a challenge in a restaurant, too. And so what about Washington?

9:28Moving from... San Francisco is a very food city. Oh, fabulous. I mean, you have Alice Walters. You had Judy Rogers. You have Women's Chef. You have so many different types of food. So was it a big wrench going from such a food city to Washington? Let me just say, I live in San Francisco. I work in Washington. Okay. And I was always working because San Francisco is three hours earlier. So when other people might go out to dinner, it was at 7 o 'clock. It was 4 o 'clock in the afternoon in San Francisco. So I was really always working. And people would say, what's a good restaurant? I mean, I'm the worst person to ask.

10:06But there are some wonderful restaurants in Washington that I can now look forward to, you know, just putting work on the shelf and just into it. What do you like about a restaurant? What do you look for in a restaurant? Is it the food? Is it the welcome? Is it the decor? First and foremost, it's the food. Of course, yeah. And it's very, very important that there be a tablecloth. The tablecloth is not only a tablecloth. It absorbs sound, so it's a little calmer when you have that. Now, there are many restaurants that don't have tablecloths that are wonderful restaurants. But I'm always happy when I have a tablecloth, still, at this point in life.

10:46and I especially still like Italian food, but of course I like French. I like all, you know, good food, just like music. They're all different kinds of music from classical to rap, whatever. Just as long as it's good, it's good. And same thing with food. Well, we have California. We have, you know, the Mexican influence. We have every kind of food you can imagine in the world in San Francisco. And you have great farms. And I think Alice has done great work and bringing the farm to the table. She's a force. That's, I mean, unbelievable, yeah. She's fabulous in every way. Do you ever work at a restaurant?

11:26Would you take somebody out and work over dinner, or do you find that you kind of work when you work and you eat when you eat? I like just to enjoy dinner. Maybe that's being Italian. I don't know. I'm a big believer in putting things on the shelf. There's an expression in Latin, age quadragis, do what you're doing. If you're dining, if you're eating, and then even if it means you have to split the – I'm eating now and I'll work then, but I don't want to do them together. Especially since sometimes your conversations can become contentious. I mean in a negative way, but it's like why am I talking about this now?

12:08I'm trying to eat my dinner. And what about how does food fit into your work life? Do you stop always for lunch? Do you have a sandwich at your desk? Does it depend on the day? My work, no food. Well, I have a salad maybe at my desk. But like on Wednesdays, I have now for a long time now, it's been a pickup lunch for my members. I wish that I could be having them for dinner more and stuff, but we really can't because of COVID for a long time. And some of the restaurants that would be able to handle that scale just don't even exist anymore. I mean, some of them have moved on. But the food is not an important part of my life in D.C.

12:52Yeah, I understand. And when you travel, do you look forward to having a state dinner or lunch? Is it something that you think about on your foreign trips? What did you have for lunch today in London? Today we had a beautiful lunch hosted by the Speaker of the House Hoyle. It was lovely in every way. And he told me that they have a cook there at the House of Commons, and it was beautiful in every way. It was a lovely, lovely dining experience. It wasn't just eating lunch. It was a dining experience. How many of you were there? Gosh, maybe one table, probably at least 40 people at the table, big long table, beautiful, beautiful flowers, beautiful food.

13:39It was lovely. And that's, London's come a long way, baby. I mean, from when we would come here when we were young, now you have everything. Yeah. You have everything. Yeah, there's really, really good restaurants in London. Where were you last night? Last night we were at Ivy. Oh, good. That was nice. I love Scott's. Yeah, and we have to get you to the River Cafe. Oh, yeah, and I love the River Cafe, too. I've been there. Have you come to my restaurant? I think we have to get you. We're closed on Sunday night, so you're forgiven for last night. But we would love you to come. And I like Woolsey because it has a lot of chocolate.

14:21Of course, we love it. Chocolate. They do. A lot of chocolate at Woolsey. That's why I go there. I mean, one of the reasons. It's a great restaurant. No, I think London has definitely. There's so many different types, again, different types of restaurants. And that's one of the heartbreaking things about Brexit, you know, is that we want to encourage different cultures and being open. And that's something we mustn't forget.

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15:37Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your home. Right now, you can shop up to 60 % off store-wide with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Shop now at washablesofas.com. Add a little to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Parking shouldn't slow you down. ParkWiz gives every driver a shortcut. Book ahead, save up to 50 % and skip the hassle of circling the block. Park smarter, park faster. ParkWiz. Download the ParkWiz app today and save every time you park. We share values. We share concern for inequality. the fact that there are children who are going to bed hungry in Britain and in the United States, that we know that during the pandemic, certainly in this country, schools shut a lot of children.

16:30That was their May meal. And so being in a position of influence and policy, what do you feel about the question of child hunger, of hunger? You know, homeless people queuing up for food. Well, I always say to members of Congress, know your why. Tell people your why. Why do you think you should be in Congress? What has motivated you? And my why, why I went from the kitchen to the Congress, from housewife to house speaker, was that one in five children in America goes to sleep hungry at night. I couldn't handle it. I mean, it was just that we had five children, and you'd think one of these children will not have food, will go to sleep hungry at night in America.

17:21Now, take it globally, and it's sinful. It's sinful anyplace. It's immoral. And that was my motivation. And all that that implied. If they were hungry, they weren't learning to their capacity. they were not feeling that their needs were being met and their families were just not able to meet their family's needs. And it is a kitchen table issue for some families. Are they going to be able to put food on the table, pay the rent, pay the utility bill, pay for their children to go to school if that required some payment? So the food issue, the one in five children living in poverty, going to sleep hungry at night, was my why.

18:04And so we all, every step of the way, have worked for policy to alleviate that, to not only supply food, food programs, lunch programs and that, but also to improve the standard of living of people so that they didn't have to choose between paying the rent or feeding their children a dinner or taking a turn eating. and when you went into congress i just will say what was it one in five how many years ago and it's still the same it's still and that's really what's so tragic because no matter how you try to do it one thing in another yeah all kinds of things come along my also when i went to congress was to fight hiv aids and that were my first speech on the floor of the house was about aids So you have all these challenges.

18:56And right now with COVID, when we're talking about the Southern Hemisphere and people are like, I have to worry about feeding my family before I worry about what else is going on in the world. And it's still a challenge. It shouldn't be. And again, it isn't even an issue. It's a value. It's an ethic. It's a value that goes way back. The concern for looking after children is something that is just ages old. It's something that is a principle for forever. And in a way, it was very much feeding your children and taking care of them. And then we became, as we advanced, we knew that we had to also educate them.

19:39And we also had to treat them in a certain way. We had to love them. We had to show them different environments. but that we still haven't achieved the feeding of children is horrific. And when you think of it, Ruthie, when you think that when we're raising our own children, it's about nutrition and, you know, feeding the right thing. And then these other children, we have urban deserts in terms of you go to the store and it's all processed food. It's not fresh vegetables or fresh fish, this, that, and the other thing. So these children are not even getting the nutrition, even if they're getting fed.

20:20And adults. You know, Steve McQueen, the director, told me that he was in Chicago and there were no vegetable stores in poor areas. So it's something that we all need to keep working on. Just one example. In Flint, Michigan, when they had the water crisis, it gives me chills just to even think about what it meant for those children. They were drinking water that was harmful to them. But not only that, it hurt their development. And we had scientists and doctors who would come to us and say, the only way out is for these children to have fresh fruit and vegetables and, you know, all this. And if you go there, there might be one store someplace that might not be near where they are, whatever it is, that would supply that.

21:07Now we're getting a little more informed that you have to have stores that are farmers markets and things like that where people can get fresh food. But it is directly related to the development of their brains. And this is how we should judge a society and the value we place in the future of our children. So it's not only a value, it's an art. It's an art. It's an art. The art of cooking, the art of making it. And that's what I was going to say. We're coming. They're all waiting for us upstairs. But before we do go upstairs and eat and talk and greet the people who are all waiting for you in London, I would say that we agree that food is values, food is an art, food is family, food is memories.

21:53It is also comfort. And there's a food, and I can probably guess what your answer is going to be, but there is a food that we turn to when we just need comfort. And Nancy Pelosi, my friend, what would be your comfort food? Ice cream. Dark, very dark. The older I get, the darker the ice cream. I wouldn't say that you were ever predictable, but I did predict that answer. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Thank you. Love you. Love you, too. Thank you. To visit the online shop of The River Cafe, go to shoptherivercafe.co.uk.

22:46River Cafe Table 4 is a production of iHeartRadio and Atomize Studios. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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24:00ParkWiz gives every driver a shortcut. Book ahead, save up to 50 % and skip the hassle of circling the block. Park smarter, park faster. ParkWiz. Download the ParkWiz app today and save every time you park. This is an iHeart Podcast. Thank you.