Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - NYC Season - Ep 3: Gregory Porter

Episode Date: February 13, 2019

I like to describe this man’s voice as being like Christmas. This week’s guest is the super talented and equally delightful Gregory Porter. Making my husband most jealous that we got him in NYC and not in Dalston, we chat Sticky Toffee pud, pre-performance rituals & family traditions, all whilst munching on mum’s very American Buttermilk Chicken – eat up! X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners New York. We are... Why don't you say Table Manners from New York? Okay. Hello and welcome to Table Manners from New York. Do you prefer that? Yeah. Okay. No, no, no, no. We've been here a little while now. Three days, darling. Feels like a lifetime. I feel like I've been here a month. Do you feel like you're a prisoner of the kitchen? I feel like I've been here a month.

Yeah, I've not been out of the fridge for two days. Because I've been cooking. Today we have an amazing jazz singer who I've loved for a good few years and my husband is completely jealous that we've got him on the podcast and it's not in Dalston this time. His name is Gregory Porter and he had this fantastic album that kind of I guess the album that everyone kind of started to know him by was Liquid Spirit. But he's gone on to do Nat King Cole albums.

He's sold out Royal Albert Hall three times. The three nights in a row. A Grammy Award winner. And apparently he was a chef in Brooklyn. So we'll have lots to talk about. I bet he knows how to make what we're making today. What are we making today? Because it's buttermilk chicken.

It's very American. Is buttermilk chicken very American? Yeah, quite American, yeah. We don't really use buttermilk that much. No. But our buttermilk chicken isn't actually, it's not fried. It's not like got a batter. It's not like a batter made out of buttermilk, no. I've had that in London.

This is baked buttermilk. It's like roasted, isn't it? Yeah. But we've been marinating it for... Two days. A day and a half. Day and a half. Rosemary and garlic.

We're going to serve it with spring onion. Well, they call them scallions here. Spring onion mash with parmesan. And then mum's done one of her best salads. It's this Brussels sprout salad with... Ch and hazelnuts and a yellow mustard dressing. American mustard. Yellow American mustard. And it's so delicious.

So that's what we've got. And then my brother has been slaving in the kitchen today, probably because I told him off because he was having too much of a good time. And he is pudding bae. So he's done a pecan pie, which I wished I'd just got that whipping cream, because they have the squirty cream here, don't they? Well, go and get some. No, I don't think I need it, mum.

We're going for Korean barbecue later. Okay. So we've got vanilla ice cream instead. But it's nice with vanilla ice cream. It's a la mode, that's what they say in America. Why? Well, that's what they call it. If you have ice cream instead. But it's nice with vanilla ice cream. It's a la mode. That's what they say in America. Why? Well, that's what they call it. If you have ice cream on any pie,

they call it apple pie a la mode. A la mode? A la mode. Do they? Yeah. Okay, please say that to Gregory when we're in there. I'm going to.

Gregory Porter, coming up on Table Manners New York. Gregory Porter, thank you so much for being here. Yeah, my pleasure. I'm really touched that you remembered meeting me or seeing me before because honestly, if I could tell you what a big deal this is, for me, my husband is gutted we're not doing this in London. He loves you so much.

We listen to you all the time. Wow. So it's such a pleasure. You know, that's really interesting. Even after, you know, all this time now, and after, you know, selling a lot of records, I'm always fascinated where the music finds its place where it settles because it's so diverse and in terms of the people that that like my music um sometimes it's young people

it's older people it's it's it's professionals it's people I have you know intelligentsia it's you know rockers people who listen to punk music so it's just like wow i'm always and it's always genuine when i say wow because i'm like yeah they're not hearing me and yes they are i mean you do have the most fantastic voice gorgeous and i'm i want to ask you so you drink coca-cola and you drink you drink whiskey do you do anything to look after your voice? Because I heard this thing that John Legend eats chicken wings before he goes on stage and it greases up his vocal cords. Now me, being like a neurotic Jew,

is like, I'm going to drink tepid water and no ice and no carbonated water. So do you have any tricks? I suspect all of that, you know, it's based on the individual voice. You know, people used to say, oh, don't drink milk or eat cheese. But none of that bothers me. Really?

Lucky. The only thing that bothers me is, like, if I'm really, really cold before a performance. But, no, I do try not to eat right before a show. In France, you know how it is. None of the kitchens are open none of you can't get food from from four five six that's when you need to eat really that's when you need to eat because I like to have like you know three hours before I go to the stage right so they had so in France they were always feeding me like at eight o'clock for an 8.30 show, you know, and it was just ridiculous.

So, you know, my first few times in France, I was like, okay, I have to be respectful. I have to eat this good food. You know, I don't want to waste this food. And I was getting on stage. Just like, you know, hey, Laura, it's me. You know, I was like, this is craziness. So I just stopped doing that. But aside from not eating, no, I don't really have any rules.

I do milk and cheese. I do a very light thing before I go on stage, maybe a little salad. And I don't follow any of the rules. So you're quite rock and roll, Gregor. Mm. For a jazzy, you're quite rock and roll. You know, I've been known to be that way a time or two, yes. I want to know, so you were brought up in, you were born in California?

Yep. You have eight siblings? Or there are eight of you? Yeah, yeah, there's eight of us. Five boys and three girls. Oh, wow. Are you the oldest? No, no, I'm the seventh of eight. The seventh, number seven. Yeah.

And then some baby came along and pipped you. Yeah, you know, just, you know, Dion, get him out of here. Dion. And then you moved over here. I moved to... Or have you been to a few different places before you landed here? Yeah, well, I was, you know, I went to college in San Diego, which is in Southern California.

What did you study? I studied city planning. Wow. Which has nothing to do with music. But, yeah, you know, it is what it is. But I minored in music but you know it wasn't a hardcore institution for music but I was doing theater I was doing odd jobs I was a chef I was a masseuse I was I used to do the most horrible jobs you can think of. And so I was traveling around, primarily doing theater.

And at some point I said, wait a minute, even though I'm using my voice, I'm not using it in the most direct and most specific and most direct way to people's hearts and ears that it could be. So I had to put theater down and focus just on music and concentrate on music. At first, because, you know, I was doing theater and people asking me, you know, where's your record? And I was like, you know, I haven't done it or haven't. Nobody's looked at me and found me and made me yet.

But were you doing musical theatre or were you doing... Both. Oh, right. Both, I was doing both. Mostly musical theatre. But hold on, you got in on a scholarship for football. Football, yeah. So you can do everything.

A polymath. But you're super tall. I didn't realise how tall you were when you performed because you're kind of, what height are you? Six-four. I don't know what you'd call that in the UK. Well, you guys go inches. Yeah, we do. Yeah, yeah.

But so how old were you when you decided to take up music seriously I guess well I loved music and I love the idea of doing music as a career I love that ideas when I was five yeah you know love Michael Jackson Stevie Wonder and I was um I just it was just seemed so far in the stratosphere. It seemed so impossible that I never thought it could be. My mother used to say things like that. She's like, you're going to use that voice. And I'd be like, Mom, you're just talking again. And she would say things like, oh, you're going to perform at the Royal Albert Hall. She would say these far out places that were famous.

Carnegie Hall. You're going to do this. She was a Christian and a minister. She said, oh, you'll do the Crystal Cathedral. These are all places. Did you sing in church choir? I sang in church. My brothers and sisters, we were a little singing group.

Nothing famous. You were like the Jacksons. sisters we were a little singing group you know nothing famous oh you were like the jacksons you had a little singing group yeah that's amazing basically so we were having fun that way but um i i didn't think it was a possible thing but after college, after injuring my shoulder and I started to go to jam sessions, jazz jam sessions, I just started to really sing everywhere that I could. And people were really affected by my voice and my delivery. I started to think about it then, but really I was thinking about it still on a small level. I was like, yeah, it'd be great if I could press up a cd and maybe sell 5,000 over 10 years you know this is the way I was thinking but then you know you you you I started to once I finally focused on music and concentrated and cultivated my my my band and my sound and what it is that I wanted to say. Once I lived life and I realized that I

could sing about my mama and I could sing about some of the ups and downs of love that I had already had. Once I realized that my little personal story was also a universal story, I realized, oh, okay, I do have something to say so then i was like okay then i should write my own songs and uh well you know once i did that then you know i went to a record label uh you know the ball start rolling but you've got a gorgeous speaking voice as well it's beautiful that's why you could be a cesspit you can be everything. But also, actually, just to cut in, I hear you've got a podcast starting. Yeah, we're trying to take over the podcast world. Oh, yeah, how's that going?

Well, you know, once I knock you off your block, then... Tell me what it's about, then. Has it started yet? Have you started recording yet? No, no, no, we're at the ground level. We're just formulating the guests and the thoughts. No, it'll be very much about music and life. Because, you know, as I look at you and I look at you here with your mama, this is it.

I'm constantly, the things that I do in my life, Constantly, the things that I do in my life, things that I love, are constantly colored and seasoned by the life that I had with my mother. She's passed now. But in the music, the things that people love, the things that the 19-year-olds are dancing to, don't know that that was a message from my mother to me. Liquid Spirit was my mother's sermon. Liquid Spirit was my mother's sermon. Liquid Spirit. Un-re-route the river. Let the damn water be.

There's some people down the way that's thirsty. So let the liquid spirit free. That is, it's my poetry, but it is her message to me. She was like, love wants to go there. Bam, hit it. Love wants to go directly to the heart. So find the path, the most direct path to give love and receive love. And so this was a message she gave to me, and I took it and put it into song form.

When I make a, I was a chef, and so when I make a great soup or some warm dish and I put it in front of somebody, it's been seasoned by my mother. I developed my ability to taste with my hands from my mother by cooking with her for years. And so she's there. She's there. And I want to talk about those things in my podcast because it's part of the art. It's part of the life it's part of the the life where you think about life it's it's uh you know so talking about home and your mother who passed away how old were you when she passed away I was 20 that's young yeah it's a very hard time to

lose your mom I think it is you're on the brink of kind of real adulthood. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, this is the interesting thing. I didn't feel, I was like, you know, after she passed, I was like, this is, you know, you feel like you're on an island and you're the only person that something bad is happening to. Of course, yeah. And this sounds odd, but I was reading the paper and started to read about the other people who had lost someone close to them. And in a way, it didn't make me feel better. It just made me feel like I'm not the only one. And even that made me want to feel her more. And I started to even think about her death in a more positive way, in a way.

How old was she when she passed away? She was 54. Oh, she was so young. Very young and breast cancer. And so it was difficult. But, you know, she lived a... We live such a dynamic life with eight kids. And, you know, I can laugh about it now, but the finances going up and down.

Sometimes we had money, sometimes we had nothing. But these, the things that we did, the places that we went, it was so rich and so, so dynamic. But your dad around. My dad didn't raise me, and he wasn't involved in my life, which is another thing that's very much in all of my music. This last record, Nat King Cole and me, if I'm going to make another record, I should probably make another Liquid Spirit. That has some guaranteed formulas. But I went to the music of my childhood. I went to the music that soothed me

in the absence of my father. I went to Nat King Cole's music, which my mother said when I was six, she said, I made a little song on a tape recorder. And she said, boy, you sound like Nat King Cole. And that drew me to play his records. And when I did that, this sound and this warmth and this rich warmth came through the speakers. And I used to imagine Nat King Cole as my father based on a a vinyl. Oh, wow. You know, that's the power of music. Yeah. Yeah. I love the story, and I love understanding why Nat King Cole,

you were attracted to his voice, but you both have this, your voices are like Christmas. They really are. I'm sure people have said that to you before. But, like, it's just like, I want you in my ear all the time when I'm a little low and unsure about something. This podcast is kind of, it revolves around food. And I kind of brought my mum into it.

She didn't understand what a podcast was. And I said, mum, you're going to cook dinner for people who are going to come over and we're gonna talk about food memories and you know i um i want to hear a bit about you and your mom in the kitchen and learning to cook yeah um through watching her how was she and what kind of cook was she what was she cooking yeah okay well cooking for me my putting my hands on on even a knife and food really started early. I have a sister who's three years older than me. There's the older group, and then there's the younger group of kids. So the younger group of kids is myself, my brother Lloyd, who's a year older than me, and my sister Lawanda, who's three years older than me.

Everything that she did, the other two boys did. So when she started to cook at nine, I started at six. Right. So we would ruin my mother's counter. We would get up on a chair and we would slice potatoes with the sharpest knife in the house, which is always dull. But we would slice them into rounds. We sliced the potatoes into rounds and put them on their side.

And then we would hold the potato and make the little ribbons. Chips, you call them in the UK. We would make the ribbons. And this is the crazy part, which is a little dangerous. We handled the grease ourselves. And I remember, this is the crazy part, which is a little dangerous, but we used to, we handled the grease ourselves. We turned, we put the grease, the oil into the pan, turned on the fire. I was six.

My sister was nine and very tall. Yeah. Yes, there was other grown teenagers around us, but we would, we would, but I remember the stove is here, dropping the french fries in the oil. And the sizzle. And I remember, yeah, nothing happened, but I just remember doing it. I think about it now. You wouldn't let your son do it. My son is five now.

Would I let him cook in a year? Hell no. No. But I did it, and I loved it. That was just our childhood experience, jumping into cooking. But we were always helping my mother in the kitchen. But the big thing for me that really changed my thought about cooking was my mother came home very tired. She worked, always worked two jobs. And she brought home a leg of lamb and said, Gregory, do something with that for me and put it in the oven.

I was 13. And I don't know where I got the knowledge from, but probably from watching her and just over the time. I was totally comfortable and knew exactly what to do. was totally comfortable and knew exactly what to do. I took a knife, trimmed the fat off the leg of lamb, poked the lamb, sliced some garlic and stuffed the garlic into the holes, seasoned it with rosemary, oregano, salt and pepper, put it in the oven. and four hours later, just by happenstance, it came out perfect. Wow. And my mother wakes up from her nap after coming home from night work and early morning work. And when she wakes up, the leg of lamb is just kicking throughout the house.

And I pull it out of the oven. She's so happy. house and she's she i pull it out of the oven she's so happy and it was like i was you know it's like that that time when i was you know six or seven or eight and i would sing a song for her and the funny thing is about when you have uh when there's eight kids in the house you have to find a way to become special you know and so I my sister was you know she did she was artistic and and my brother was was a bit of a whiner and I was a singer and but we all we all had our our you know so to catch her attention it was my singing and the second thing that caught her attention was cooking, was food.

So I pulled this leg of lamb out of the oven, and she was like, oh, Gregory, this is wonderful. I remember her slicing a piece of it. It's like, boy, this is wonderful. And then she keeps eating it. And I'm like, bang, this is another way to get into my mother's heart. And so then I became really interested in cooking. So I started to, you know, everything she was doing, I was doing. From just how to make mashed potatoes, wonderful, to how to make sweet potato pies.

You know, we did everything. We did everything. We cooked everything. So she was a good cook. She was a good cook. Gregory, we've done buttermilk chicken with rosemary and garlic, but roasted, so not like,

it hasn't got a batter. And then we've done mashed potatoes with you call them scallions here, don't you? Yeah. But I don't think they're going to be as good as call them scallions here, don't you? But I don't think they're going to be as good as your mum is because I don't have a mash. So you may find a little lump and bump in there with parmesan. It sounds wonderful. And then mum's done this like shaved. What are you talking about?

Look at that. That's incredible. Oh, it's all right. Actually, I don't like it completely smooth. Oh, really? I like it just broken up a bit. I like it to have little bits of potato. Okay, well, you will be getting that. Okay. it completely smooth. I like it just broken up a bit. I like it to have little bits of potato.

Okay, you will be getting that. And then we've got the shaved Brussels sprout salad. Mum puts like a sharp cheddar in it, cheese, and with hazelnuts and yellow American mustard dressing. So it's fresh Brussels sprouts? Yes, so they're raw. Okay, awesome. So it's almost like a coleslaw. Oh, you guys are on the cutting edge.

Oh, yeah. Wonderful. You have a son that you've talked about. Are you married? I am. Yeah, my wife. I met my wife 13 years ago in Moscow. Oh, wow.

She's Russian? Yeah. Wow. years ago in Moscow. Oh wow. She Russian? Yeah. Wow. Yeah we met in Moscow and we stayed friends for years, five years and I was in a relationship, so was she, but it was all decent. I mean she had broken up with her person and I had, unbeknownst to each

other. Just out of the blue she says I'm coming to New person and I had unbeknownst to each other and she's just out of the blue she says I'm coming to New York and I need a tour guide and I was like okay yeah you know you know it being a tour guide is kind of can be a drag sometimes but but but right when I was like oh oh, yeah, I remember you. But she came, and we had such a great time. We laughed, and we walked. And I even saw New York in a different way, which kind of made me say, okay, that's probably love if you're looking at the Empire State Building in a different way.

So, yeah. And what does she do? She's an artist. But back in Russia, she had a television show. She was interviewing different celebrities and critiquing films. And so I took her away from all that. And she's an artist. She does paintings.

And we actually have an art show today. Oh, wow. In Brooklyn. Yeah. Her exhibiting her stuff? Yeah, she's exhibiting. That's amazing. A little space in Brooklyn.

And all of my friends are going to come over. My birthday was on a couple of days ago. Happy belated. So we're going to have a little birthday party, a little art show, family reunion. My brother is here and all my friends. I wanted to ask about your brother because I read that you worked in your brother's restaurant bed bread style yeah which is no longer there but is that the brother you're talking about is he still in brooklyn and is he doing is he still being a chef like he is he's still his wife is a paper chef they still do but they do commercial now they don't have a shop that's

open to the public um So they supply to restaurants and little shops fresh baked goods. Was that what the place was then I guess with bread styles? Yeah it was everything. It was like you know they did you know food and also cafe fare, coffee. Why did you get the gig? Was it because he remembered how good you were in the kitchen with your mom? No. His chef quit.

Okay. His chef quit, and he was determined not to have me involved in his business. But this was the funny thing. I had nothing to do the day that his chef quit. And he had nothing to put in the shelves. No soup, no salads, no nothing.

You know how they do in New York. There's a counter, a refrigerator cabinet. There's nothing in there. So I came in, and in a couple hours' time, I filled his refrigerator with tasty, different, unusual things. And I did that, and he was like, hmm. He tried to act unimpressed. And both him and his wife tried to act unimpressed.

And they were like, well, can you do that tomorrow? Because all of the food sold out that day. Amazing. Do you even remember what the kind of things were you making? I made a chicken curry salad. Carrots, raisin. Lovely. Roasted chicken breast.

And we put it all together. About 10 other different ingredients, but we put it together. And it was a hit. So then I started in making soups. I made the soups and and literally to this day people in the neighborhood still know me as the soup man. Oh my god why be your soups notorious? Yeah the soups were pretty great. What was the kind of bestseller? Mmm my black bean turkey chili. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. And Indian food was the first food that

I ever cooked. I worked for Deepak Chopra and did a little work in his kitchen in California just after college. So I made this cream of curry chicken with spinach. People, I was like it

was a mouthful to say but give me that that curry thing that's amazing because a lot of Americans don't really know how to do curry yeah especially in California I don't really know that many spots sure there's more in New York yeah there's definitely more in New York yes that you are a chef. You're everything. It kind of just happened, you know. I didn't... We ask everyone what would be... Mum has an issue with me saying last supper.

So we could say desert island dinner. She would say if you're on death row. Yeah. But it makes me so upset. Well, she is a little bit rock and roll, you know. Oh, wow. So starter, main, pud. Yeah. But it makes me so upset. Well, she is a little bit rock and roll, you know. Oh, wow. So, start her main pud.

Mmm. And anything in between. Now, this is so funny. Start her main pud. That's, only because I've been going to the UK,

I know what the hell you're talking about. I know, sorry, because everyone says dessert, don't they? So. Wow, I really love a really fresh starter. I would love a shrimp and avocado salad. Okay.

Throw some mangoes in there if you would. Fresh herbs I like. Maybe we'd have some basil. But I like the juxtaposition of sweet and savory. So the mango and the shrimp and the astringent of maybe a rosemary or a basil. Maybe we toss a little mint in there. I like the juxtaposition of things that seem like they don't go together, but they absolutely do.

Okay. Okay, that's my starter. I've been into, like, these long roasted meats here lately. So either we do a pork belly or a pork shoulder. It is a fatty thing, but, you, but cook it for a long time. Or even for that matter, a... Oh, I'm sorry. I act like I have many, many choices.

You do. Oh, I do? You do. I want to hear everything. It's fine. It's okay. So then you could do either... If you don't like the pork, then do a short rib.

Something along this long cooking meat. Go ahead. And when you put the meat in and you put the bay leaf and you put the rosemary in, go ahead and pour a little good wine on top of all of that before you put it in the oven and braise it. Yeah, for pudding, I'll have to, I mean, you guys. What sides are you having with your short ribs? Oh, I've got to have, well, with short ribs, you've got to have great garlic mashed potato. Okay.

And let's do just a simple green, a spinach, yeah, spinach. Simple. Yeah, nothing to get in the way, just really beautiful. I love short ribs. Yeah, yeah, short ribs are my, I really love that. Now. Would you like some water by the way? Would you like another bit of? I'll have a little of that sparkling water that'd be great. I've realized as I go around the world there are people who have stolen your idea for sticky toffee pudding. Oh, really? Yeah.

Did you first have it in the UK? The official one. When I saw it on the menu, I was laughing about it. Why? Because you guys like these names. You like these descriptive... Spotted dick. Right. You love these descriptive names.

You like them. If it has blood in it, you love saying blood. Americans don't do that. Like pudding, do you mean? Yeah, in it, you love saying blood. Americans don't do that. Like black pudding, do you mean? Yeah, I mean, you love, like, if it's a black spotted hen, that's what you'll call it on the plate. Oh, right, okay. Americans don't do that.

You just say chicken. Yeah, no, breast of, you know. But you always give the geography of the meat. So it's always Cornish ham. Right. Or something. Right, we do. New Maine oysters.

Right, right. Yeah, so you always know the geography of where it's going to come from. But you guys like if it's bloody or sticky or mashy. Or you like. Never, ever heard that. You guys love grotesquery you love it you love it i mean in all of your descriptions in some of the songs and some of the um i was walking by a building the other day or when i was in the uk. And it was just like home for single women. What, like a hostel?

Yeah, this was the name of the building. And chiseled into the stone was home. Yeah, because it would have been very unusual in the old days for women to live separately. Right. So it would be like one of those kind of religious temperance places where women had to come to work way so it'd be the home for single women right and they would work for the government or civil service or something they wouldn't do that here they would you would call it hide you we would call it uh brimmington house you just you know, oh, you live there. Oh, that's one of those.

Yeah, we've got a place called the Hospital for Incurables. Yeah. Do they? Yeah, in Putney. Oh, we do? Yeah. Yeah.

That's what I'm talking about. It's quite depressing, that. It is quite depressing. We're a miserable bunch. So, what? So, you're going for a sticky toffee pudding? A sticky toffee pudding? Man, i haven't

found nothing that just like is that dope recently it's just so good could have done more shit so i want to know there was this really great quote about you talking about cooking and about how you know you feel like it should be made with love yeah and you talk about gordon ramsay and you say you know i like respect to him whatever but And you say, you know, like, respect to him, whatever, but I don't understand, you know, he shouts and... Yeah. We've tried to be very calm during this meeting, but we do shout at each other.

Mum, would you say that all your food is made with love whilst doing this podcast? No. I did for Gregory, though. Of course, yes. Table Manners. This podcast is called Table Manners I feel like I know the answer But do you believe you've got good table manners?

You know, I used to really consider these things It used to trouble me about eating soup You're supposed to go this way Oh yeah, alright That bothers me Now, what I like about when you're eating soup, you're supposed to go this way? Oh, yeah. Huh? That bothers me. Now, what I like about... Why are you supposed to go that way with soup? Doesn't matter.

Does anyone know? Maybe you won't splash it so much. I don't know. Yeah, but then you've got further away when you pick it up because you're going from where you are outwards and then you've got to pick it up and then you've got more soup to carry in the air. So it's actually very stupid. It seems bit wrong but you know if they're the queen's rules i don't want to get in the way of those rules but but my thought is if somebody is enjoying themselves

i think that's pretty cool i used to get on my brother so much he would slice a steak with his knife and his fork and then he'd take the piece of steak and pick it up with his finger. I was like, stop doing that. But then I was like, he's enjoying himself. Do what you do, man. It's okay. But my mother, she was always, in a way, preparing us for royalty. She was like, Gregory, your talent will make room for you at the table of royalty

and when you get there this is what you should do right she really believed i love her yeah yeah she was you know i think about it now and it's just like oh my goodness we used to laugh at it he's like what are you talking about nobody gonna be at you know carnegie hall you know and so my sold-out show last year at Carnegie Hall was like. Emotional. Mom, yeah, mom, right? So, yeah, so, so, yeah, she had all of these, you know, showing us how to do things and, you know, how to be. Have you got to eat with royalty yet?

I think having a cocktail, you know, is fair as well. That counts. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Did you have a cocktail with? I was invited to Buckingham Palace. Amazing. Yeah.

Prince Philip was. How did he look? Good. This was three, maybe four years ago now. What were you invited there for? This was three, maybe four years ago now. What were you invited there for? They were having the children's charity event.

But there were no children around for some reason. Was it the Prince's Trust thing? Was it Prince of Wales, Prince's Trust? Right, got it. Yes. Got it. So there was all these dignitaries and several royals. At the time, I didn't know who everybody was. No.

Now that you've watched The Crown, you probably were like, oh, have you watched The Crown yet? You need to do that. So your mum actually did get that right, too. Yeah. Would you like some dessert? Yeah, yeah, I'd love that. Oh, wonderful.

Did you know I love pecan pie? I'm sorry, are you finished? Do you like pecan pie? Did you finish though Gregory? I'm sorry. Are you finished? Do you like pecan pie? Hold on. Hold on. Oh, this is really funny. You know, I was like, did I request this? Yeah, yeah I love pecan pie. You didn't request it, but I'm really glad that you like pecan pie.

Yeah. We don't know if it's any good, so I'm sure it's great. Jessie, your brother cooks the best. I'm sure it's great. Gregory how much? Right there is perfect. Oh and you got the vanilla girl. Well yeah I don't have whipped cream though I'm sorry. Vanilla ice cream is alright. Yeah well mum said that in America they call it a la mode. Why do they say a la mode? We're trying to be French. With ice cream.

Yeah we're trying to be French. But why does that only apply to ice cream? Jessie do you want some? Mum seems to think it's a la mode when there's a bit of ice cream on top. When you have a pie and ice cream on the top. Yeah that's that's that's there you go. A la mode yeah. Would you like some ice cream?

Yes please. Okay. Everyone likes ice cream on pecan pie please I wanted to know you you lived in Brooklyn we talked a bit about it but like you you must have some food spots that when you're here mmm sorry that's the Nespresso mm-hmm you you must have some spots that you take like is there one that you take your wife to or you have you know yeah we have a spot that we really love i think the first time when she came on that trip 13 years ago i took her to this spot called moto it's in brooklyn yeah i mean you go past it and you're like that must be

like a transmission repair shop okay you know it's in the you know in the cut in brooklyn and uh underneath the train it's very unglamorous yeah but you you walk through the cut in Brooklyn and underneath the train is very unglamorous yeah but you you walk through the doors and it's just this charming space that you know you look like you walked into 1936 on the outskirts of town Paris you know mmm yeah it has that kind of vibe. Moto is a theme because there's a bunch of, throughout the restaurant, which is very small, there's bicycles. So is it a French restaurant?

It, themed. Nothing in America is very, you know, anything. Okay. So they make your sticky toffee pudding there, but they call it a date cake. Okay. Yes. Yeah, but it's sticky toffee pudding. And that was your date spot that you went to?

That was the date spot. And that sealed the deal? That sealed the deal. She was like, she had great wine. I think I'm okay with this. You're okay? I'm going to have to shove it in my hand. She had a great day, and yeah, she was wine. I think I'm okay with this. You're okay? I'm going to have to shove it in my hand. She had a great day.

And, yeah, she was like, I could do this all the time. And you used to sing in Harlem. I bet there's some good food spots up there. Yeah. This place by Red Rooster, where they're mixing music in the basement. And a great restaurant on top, Red Rooster. What's his first name? Marcus Samuelson, who's the executive chef there and owner.

That's an amazing place. Sylvia's, soul food. And that's in Harlem? That's in Harlem. You know, for me, like, I'm always still trying to find the mom and pop places. For me, that's what Harlem was. There was a little spot on the corner that used to fry fish. And the fish was always fresh.

And they would just, you know, they would just give you like two pieces of fish and way too many french fries spilling off your plate. And it was just great. But rent got too high. And then that guy went away. And then something slick came in. You know, people get excited about a starbucks but if the starbucks supplants this interesting place has been there for years you know it's a bit sad you know do you want some more ice cream yeah would you i'm okay it's very good it's good pie yeah yeah it's a good balance it's not too over sweet no it's a good balance. It's not too over sweet. No, it's good.

Alex did a good job. It's such a pleasure to meet you properly because I've always appreciated you from afar. Yeah. And to hear your stories and the fact that you are, the way you talk about food and family and everything, it's just the most perfect combination

for us to have had you on Table Manners. So I really, really appreciate it. Thank you. What a voice, Mum. Like liquid gold. He should put out like a meditation app or something, shouldn't he? He just sing you to sleep. Yeah, it was beautiful.

We've had two really good voices in the streets. So good. Zachary and now, yeah. That was so interesting. He had so much to talk about he had a proper soul yeah so much soul he did have so much and his mum sounded so lovely dying at 54 i just thought that he was just so warm and a positive person yes Yes. And a kind person. Yes. You just knew he was a good person. I tried to really hold down, like, our bickering today

because I just felt like Gregory wouldn't have appreciated that. No, he wouldn't. Mum, are you too tired to go and get a Cosmo? Yes. I don't think I want Cosmo at 24, Jessica. Oh, really? Yeah, maybe. There's sunset somewhere, Mum.

Okay, yeah, maybe. Does that pick you up, pep you up? It might pep me up a bit, actually. Shall we go and be Carrie, really? Yeah. There's sunset somewhere, Mum. Yeah, maybe. Does that pep you up? It might pep me up a bit, actually. Shall we go and be Carrie Bradshaw? Yeah. The Table Manners music you have been enjoying is by Pete Fraser and Peter Duffy and our dear editor and producer is Alice Williams.