Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond

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1:00at washablesofas.com. Authors are subject to change, and certain restrictions may apply. You are listening to Ruthie's Table 4, in partnership with Moncler. When I met my husband, Richard, an architect, he was so keen for us to work together. He wanted me to change my career and become an architect, too. In the end, our partnership took a different shape, and I opened the restaurant five steps away from his office. He did the drawings, I made the soup. The River Cafe began. Tina Fey has been on Ruthie's Table 4, and she's in fact our first returning guest. When we first met, she spoke about food being a major part of her life, but she only brought one half of her team.

1:38The other half, Jeff Richmond, is now here with us. A composer, producer, director, Jeff is Tina's creative partner, and he's her husband. He says he does all the cooking. Tina and Jeff have collaborated together on almost everything, and now they're here in London to open the Mean Girls musical at the Savoy Theatre. I am going on opening night. Today we're going to talk about love, marriage, work, family, and most of all, food. What a team. Hi, Ruthie. Hi, Ruthie. Pleasure to be here. So you know the kind of drill is we read a recipe. When you were here, we had the slow-cooked tomato sauce, and in the winter we used the jars of tomatoes, and right now we have beautiful tomatoes in season, so we made a fresh tomato sauce.

2:22Do you want to read it, and I'll just kind of underscore it? Okay. Do you want the piano? Yeah. All right. This is a recipe for tagliarini with San Marzano tomato sauce. 200 grams of San Marzano tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and chopped. 300 grams of tagliarini. Did I say that right? Two garlic cloves cut into slivers. Three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. A handful of fresh basil. Extra virgin olive oil. Here come the instruction part, Jeff. Okay. Here comes the instruction part. Fry the garlic in the olive oil until it turns golden brown. Add the tomatoes and season well. Cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3:07Put the tagliarini in boiling salted water. Drain and combine with the sauce. Add torn up basil and extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately. Take that, Stanley Tucci. Take that, Tucci. That's beautiful. So we're here and we were thinking, when were we here last? You were here about a couple of months ago. Like a month ago? So we weren't quite in the, this is now, June is getting into the summery season. How's your garden? It's lovely. I planted lettuce, lots of lettuce. Lettuce is coming up, tomatoes all over the place. Yeah, and I had to rush home to be sure I was getting everything in the ground.

3:46I remember, were you doing zucchini? I got zucchini in this last week. Did you get the flowers? Lots of flowers. I like to put a lot of flowers in the garden to attract the pollinators and mix them all in so that the bees show up. You've got to give something to the bees. Did you ever think of doing honey? Yes, I think about it all the time. And you can ask Tina. I'm aspiring to do honey next. I've already found a little place over the hill. Although people are oddly, maybe not that oddly, nervous about having a home of bees. No, I don't think so. You should just have them. We were going to do it.

4:20We always talk about doing it on the roof of that building of having bees in Hammersmith. Oh, so nice. The weather's been very nice. It's been wet in a good way? Here it's really cold. And we're getting things late, like the melons start coming usually early May, and now they're coming later. So it just feels a bit late. So the whole farm-to-table thing, you're like, oh, no, the climate change, we've got to plan ahead for whatever's next. Just think about what we're going to have and what we don't have. And a lot of our vegetables, we grow here. We do have English blueberries and strawberries and all that.

4:53But a lot of the interesting vegetables come from Italy. I suppose it's not that much difference because when we go, all right, we're in New York. We get a lot of our vegetables in New Jersey and stuff when the season's right. But then the off-season, it's coming from California, Florida, which is like the same distance. I guess that makes perfect sense. You foraged your ramps this time. Did you forage? I did. I was so – this is kind of fun. And so over the hill, this was the year, we've had this home for like four years, and we've had the beautiful back end of the property that goes over the back.

5:25And I said, well, let's clear it out this year so we can just see what's down there. We'll put a little house or a little building or something or a bench, something for simple people. And they had cleared it out, and I went down there. And I said, oh, my gosh, from my childhood, here's rams. Talk about rams. I'm not really sure about rams. So rams are like something else. Probably call something a spring onion or a garlic. But they're very short-lived. They pop up in kind of the wet part of the early spring. So it's like wild garlic. It's like wild garlic. Wild garlic, maybe. Really strong garlic.

5:57Very strong. Yeah. And it's delicious. It's delicious to cook with. And when you eat them, they come out your pores. Yeah, you sweat. You sweat garlic for a couple days. So tell me about growing up and food in your house. What did you grow up with? You say your mom cooked. Yes. And your grandparents. My grandparents. So I lived, we grew up in rural, in the country, and it was very. Where did you grow up? I grew up in West Virginia, and then we moved to Ohio. When we were in West Virginia, my dad was a coal miner, and he said, we've got to get out of here. In both places, he was a coal miner. Coal miner.

6:32No, and when we went to Ohio, he was many things. He just kind of kept bouncing around. He just left West Virginia to get out of coal mining. Yeah, that was the thing, to get out of the coal mining business. So no matter what it was, it was never crazy lucrative. But I was three boys and my parents and my grandparents on my father's side. We all lived together. So it was like the Waltons, if anybody's familiar. And it was, you know, three boys. Nobody's afraid of eating. Everybody loves to eat. And eating together, breakfast and lunch and dinner. Breakfast, you're talking about eggs every day, bacon every day.

7:07Before going to school. Biscuits. Yes, biscuits, the whole ball of wax. Gravy, red-eye gravy. Gravy, not red-eye gravy, just regular what they call just white gravy that's made with, like, bacon fat. What is that? And by the way, it's delicious. Bacon fat, flour. Oh, it's like just bacon fat, and then you make a roux by putting in flour, of course, into just bacon drippings, salt and pepper. And then you add just whole milk. Stir it, pour it over the most delicious hot biscuit right out of the oven. It's like a scone. It's like a scone, yeah. A savory scone. Scones are slightly sweet as well, aren't they?

7:42Yeah. So it's very typical. Probably something to fill up people as well. Oh, for sure. Was that a, did you have toast as well? Sometimes toast. Oh, yeah, and toast. Did your grandparents, were they born in the United States? Did they have a tradition? They did. You know, kind of the interesting thing, when my grandparents, when they were young, so this was in the 20s and 30s and in the 40s, and in those days, people that worked in the coal mines, they lived in towns that were built by the coal mining companies. And so in those, it was full of immigrants. So my grandmother learned all her cooking from Italian immigrants and Irish immigrants.

8:20So we would have Italian food at home. I had gnocchi all the time, but I never knew it was called gnocchi. It was called two fingers because of the way you make it, where you roll the dough and you do this. So I never heard of it as gnocchi until I was a grown man. Delicious. But the food was so good, and it was so important to them. And the other thing I just remembered about that was that all the ladies would get up. There was really a community. The women would get up, send all the men into the mine at like 6 o 'clock in the morning. That was first breakfast. Then about 9.30, all the ladies would have second breakfast.

8:58Together. Together. So their husbands were all from mine. They had nothing to do but cook and do that. So second breakfast. We often have second breakfast. I think a two-breakfast system. You're a two-breakfast person. So you get up at 6.30. So when you describe that, you and your brothers would have breakfast at 6.30 before your dad went to it? Before we went to school, we'd all have breakfast, like 6.30, 7.00. And then he'd go off to the mines. And then did he take a kind of lunch with him, do you think, down there? Ale, yeah. Your mom would have to make it at the miner? Yeah, my dad wouldn't make it.

9:32Because the Cornish miners here, you know, there's a thing called the Cornish pasty. And somebody told me once that that was for the miners who would put everything. They'd make this kind of meat, sort of stew type thing, and they'd put it inside this pastry. Kind of like an empanada. And it's like a big, heavy thing. And then, yeah, yeah, exactly. And then you'd go down into the mine. It makes perfect sense, doesn't it? You want to have something that you can pull out of a thing, not get filthy, dirty, and eat really quickly. Was it fearful, him going down? I think it was for them. And by the time I was six or seven, we had moved and just lived in Ohio.

10:07But I think those early days, it's, yeah. Do you think that part of it was the reason to move was that he didn't want you and your brothers to have to do that job? You find the real cool story nuggets. That's true. He didn't want us to do that. Yeah. And your grandparents moved with you. Yes. It's interesting that in a lot of these interviews, the role of the grandparent in food, You talked about your Greek family as well. Yeah, I mean, my grandparents were, I didn't really, they were gonorrhea, but again, very communal in the neighborhood. And somebody's grandma was always baking cookies, like baking gurulakia and gurabiedas and all those things.

10:48And you had a lot of still like first-generation Greek? It was really Greek, yeah. And, yeah, the food is delicious. Yeah, but also the grandparents kind of, I always say, They bring the food with them and keep it. The mothers adapt. The children really conform. But the grandmothers keep the food. People talk a lot about their grandparents' food and remember their grandparents' food. It's a huge part of it. Because my mother didn't know how to cook until she got married. That's what I remember. And my grandmother, Perlene, taught her to cook. Perlene. Beautiful. Pearlene. Pearlene, and her mother's name was Icy.

11:32Those are some old... What are those names? From the hills, I'm not even sure. You know, they were all Welsh, Irish, Scottish. So you kind of grew up in this household where both of you... Well, you had breakfast as well? Did you have breakfast? We didn't have that kind of... No, that kind of like bacon and eggs breakfast was maybe on a weekend. I grew up with a regular suburban box of sugar cereal in the morning. Food was important in your house. Everybody really cared about the food in your house, too. And I always think it's interesting when you think, what next? So then you grow up in this house, and you do probably with your children.

12:06I've done it with mine where you really, the food is about getting together in the evening. It's about talking. It's about tradition, as you say. And then you go off to college, and it's what? So you went to Kent State. What year were you in Kent State? 81. When I saw that you'd been there, it just so resonates. Yes. I don't know if you hear somebody's been to Kent State. It means something. When I went there, it was 10 years after. People are listening, Mike, no. Should we tell them what it was? So in 1970, in the States, when there was so much civil unrest, there were - Anti-Vietnam protests.

12:38Anti-Vietnam. The States had just announced that they were going to push into Cambodia, so everybody, and the war wasn't going to end. So all these students whose lives were at risk, they were going to protest. And there was a lot of protests, peaceful protests that eventually became not quite as peaceful. They sent in the National Guard to kind of sit on the students, which resulted in, after a couple of days of just mayhem, of four students getting shot and killed. And that was a historic event. So I just come to London from New York, and we all knew that we were all protesting. We were all doing that, but to actually be killed by protesting at a college was something.

13:21I remember, yeah, and I just remember the day that it happened, because I grew up near Kent in Ohio, and I had an announcement on the news that this had just happened, and it was, you know, horrible. Everybody was just scared. It was nerve-wracking. So what did you do in college for food? Did you cook, or did you just grab a sandwich? Did you just have fast food? I didn't live on campus. I lived off campus. So you tried to find a way to buy a booklet of food and eat in the cafeterias, and it was like a ticket program. We tore them off so much. We would also eat about every meal at a diner called Perkins.

13:55Perkins. Sure, and we would eat a lot of meals there. And you would go there after class and stay there really late and just drink a lot of coffee. Occasionally cooking. Yeah. And other people cooking. Is that when, did you cook at home? Did you ever cook with your mother? Yeah. She did. Jeff and his brother. My brother, both are the cooks in our home. One brother never really glommed on me, but it's that kind of masculine cooking, I guess. It's that kind of meat. Barbecuing thing? Neat. But inside, too. But yeah, like roasts and starch. What do you cook on these? A lot of chicken. I cook a lot of roast chickens because that's what everybody loves.

14:35Pork shoulders. Do you have a special way of cooking a roast chicken? Everybody has their own technique. Yeah. I've gone a couple of different. lately I was doing a thing like a chicken in a pot where I would take a whole chicken and I would put it in a pot with a lid on on top of the stove for a while then take the lid off and put the whole thing in the oven but still leaving a lot of liquid in it but normally it's just old school roast nothing fancy like not putting butter under the skin just a chicken cooked by itself

15:18The River Cafe is excited. We're opening the River Cafe Cafe. Come for a morning brioche and cappuccino, a plate of seasonal antipasti on the terrace, or an ice cream or aperitivo in the sun. We can't wait to open, and we cannot wait to welcome you. Amore.

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16:23Visit 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. Hey, it's Amanda from Soul Sessions with Amanda Rieger-Green. Discover Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a perfect destination to unplug and enjoy the season. The rolling hills and quiet countryside offer a peaceful escape, while the vibrant city and rich culture provide so much to explore. Wonder through the boutique shops in Lancaster, enjoy a glass of local wine or a cozy cup of coffee, and catch a live show at the American Music Theater.

17:13You can also dive into the authentic Amish culture by visiting markets and sampling the homemade treats. How delightful. Lancaster County offers the perfect balance of cozy and adventurous, ensuring a memorable escape. If you're planning a fall getaway, start at discoverlancaster.com forward slash soul sessions. When you first met in Chicago, what was food like there? Chicago is a really good food city. There's like really delicious food there. But it was also we would work late and we would end up at this amazing old school diner every night after the show. Called the Golden Apple. Golden Apple Diner.

17:56Which also kind of makes sense in a family way because I ate there probably twice a day. There was a stretch where we would eat there, go before the show and then again after the show. I love that. And it was in the same waitress, I know, Donna. There was actually like an NPR, This American Life podcast about Donna. Donna, in Chicago, she was everybody. Yeah, and so that felt like. What was she like? Was she kind of young? She's from Oklahoma. Was she like those movie waitresses and diners? I remember the one in five. Yes, she is. She's all the way. It's always a diner scene, and it's that waitress who's slightly sassy and kind of slightly tall.

18:30She was more elegant and sassy. She was tall, striking Oklahoma woman, maybe in her 50s at the time. Certainly her 50s. And real warm. So warm. And she was so, and people just loved her. She was famous. And she was witty. Yeah, she was kind of famous. But anyway, that was another extension of family and eating. Being a regular. Being a regular. And everybody's saying hello. And it was Greek owned. Sure. Of course. I'm a big fan of a late night breakfast, so we like scrambled eggs and a Belgian waffle. You can also eat a lot more when you're 23. You get a hot veal. Oh, yeah. Our friends got us.

19:07They used to get the hot veal every night. No, picture this. Piece of veal, deep fried. Deep fried. There's a place called the Athenian Room. Oh, yeah. That place. I've talked about that place a lot. It was a little Greek place, a little better than a diner, but they would do these kind of Greek lemon chickens on rotisseries, and then they would let the fat drip onto the French fries. Yeah, on the fries. Oh, into the French fries. So they were like a cottage fry or a fry thing. And there was so much lemon and even vinegar on everything. It had a bite and a tang, and the skin was so crispy. I had never had a chicken that tasted good in my life.

19:45I'm always chasing that chicken. Was it part of falling in love, your love for food, do you think? Yeah, I think so. Could you date somebody who didn't like food or didn't care about food? I don't think so because I think there's a weird disconnect with people who don't like food. I don't understand someone who doesn't care about food. Tina used to do this hilarious bit when we were first dating. It has to do with chocolate cake. It's so stupid. It's so stupid, but this is one of the reasons I fell in love with her. We would be at the improv theater doing something, and somebody would have cake, and you would come up and you would put chocolate cake right here covering up one of your teeth.

20:21I would do your teeth on purpose. And you would just start talking. And it looked like you had just had a tooth knocked out, but you would play it like. Like I didn't know. Like you didn't know. I don't know. Why was that so funny? I don't know, but it's what this marriage is based on. But do you think about food a lot? I think we wake up in the morning and have coffee and plan dinner. Do you? Very much so. We look forward to our coffee in the morning so much. So no big breakfast. No, not the eggs and the biscuits. Not biscuits, but an egg. How do you make your eggs? Different ways. You normally like either sunny side up or over easy.

21:00I've been trying to get better at poaching eggs. Oh, yeah, okay. Because this is delicious. I like a poached egg. I do too. Yeah, I think with a poached egg, my side is that you don't have to be afraid of putting too much vinegar in the water. See, that might be it because I put like a cap full. No, don't worry. I mean, I don't think it's... But I don't think you need, nor do you need a lot of water, so then you don't need a lot. But I think that vinegar chemical something is... Tightens it up, right? Yeah, maybe. It really makes it easier. Do you swirl the water? No, I don't. Oh. I didn't know that.

21:31That's what I had learned, that you vinegar and then take a spoon and get the water. Oh, I see. And then you have a little well. And then when you drop the egg in the middle, it shapes it quicker. Do you eat eggs in the morning? I do. I have perfected a boiled egg. I like a hard-boiled egg. That's a really hard thing to perfect, I have to say. So many different ways. I put it in, just cover it with water, bring it to a rolling boil, turn it off, lid for 10 minutes exactly. 10 minutes, okay. Perfect. And then you peel it under. Peel it and put mustard on it. Mustard, that's a good idea. The egg situation.

22:06The other one, it's hard, it's tricky, and it always looks so good is when somebody does a soft-boiled egg and they put it in an egg cup and they can delicately open it. and you dip your bread. It is British. That's what they do. They have soldiers. They call it soldiers. You have that thing. And I never could quite perfect that thing of putting your spoon in and not getting the shell. Yeah, me either. But I sure wish I could. When you then started working, when you then had domestic life in New York and you were both working, did you fit food into that? When you're working on a set, so for seven years we were on set.

22:40And was that 30 Rock? 30 Rock, yeah. But you did the music for 30 Rock. And I was on the, yeah, yeah. Were they all good eaters? Yeah, I mean, we all love food. Alec loves food. And, you know, it was real. That neighborhood at the time is in Long Island City. It's grown a lot. But at that time, it was a real kind of food desert. There wasn't a place to order in from. So we'd have catered lunch that was, geez. And then we had an amazing woman. I've probably talked about her a lot. I can't forgive me if I repeat. But this woman, Angel, who was, so you have your catered lunch, but you also have what they call craft services, which is a table just of constant snacks, and they bring different things out.

23:18And it really is what, when you're having a long, arduous day, it's one of your biggest joys. And you're like, angels walking around with garlic knots or whatever. And she was from Long Island, and she would bring in all these Italian delights from Long Island, like fresh, like breads and tomato pie and mozzarella. I don't know where she was getting all this delicious food. And like Italian cookies and stuff. and it was your only joy, yeah. And so there was almost never any meal at home during that time. But I think creatively how you work within food and being hungry or not wanting to eat. Some people don't want to eat when they're acting.

23:57People I've talked to say they don't like to eat while they're working. Well, sometimes if you're acting, you don't want to feel weighed down and you're on a heavy meal. Being a writer slash performer all that time was tricky because if I'm writing, I absolutely have to carb load. I truly think my brain needs like bagels. The dopamine or whatever. It needs bagels to function. But if you're an actor, you think like, well, I still need my costume to fit or whatever. But I mean, I never was successful back 20 years ago when everyone was on like Atkins and stuff. I can't do that because my brain won't work.