Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware

‘Kia ora!’ to our next guest, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern. We caught up with Jacinda at the start of her book tour, and chatted over another delicious Ixta Belfrage recipe. We hear about how her aunt Marie got her into politics, making her favourite plum sauce, meeting world leaders, learning how to fillet fish from her husband, handling Covid in New Zealand, being pregnant while in office and she talks about studying for a masters at Harvard and now living in Boston. We also found out we have more in common than we thought, as Jacinda & I have both performed at the same Australian music festival, Laneway - hi DJ Jacinda! Jacinda’s brand new book ‘A Different Kind of Power’ is out now, it really is a fascinating read.

We’re back in the UK, and we have an acting legend joining us this week - it’s Jason Isaacs! Jason had already been in touch earlier in the week to apologise for ‘being a vegan who doesn’t like vegetables’! But no bother! We cooked up a storm and we love a challenge. And Jason more than made up for it with his excellent table chat; we heard about working with Gillian Anderson on their new film ‘The Salt Path’, filming White Lotus, how he married his wife for the health insurance, his encounter with a ghost, turning down West End shows, and we discover that men who are vegan have better erections… Plus Jason even treats us to a magic trick, the must see video will be on our socials this week. Don’t miss Jason’s beautiful new film The Salt Path, which is out in cinemas this Friday the 30th May.

It’s the last episode of our New York series 💔and we’re going out with a bang with legendary Late Night host and SNL icon Seth Meyers! Seth popped over to the hotel for breakfast, catered by the fabulous Buba’s Bureka (and some Breads bakery babka too!) We covered everything from SNL, Broadway musicals, his love of Chinese food, pet goats, lockdown meatball obsessions, his mum’s legendary sandwich fillings, and what it’s like hanging out with his 3 year old daughter at restaurants. Seth, you are such a gent and we promise to cook for you when you join us again in London for the full chicken soup and matzo ball experience! A big thank you to The Standard High Line for having us on our New York adventure, and to all our fabulous guests too - think this might need to be a regular trip… Seth’s stand up special ‘Dad Man Walking’ is available to stream on HBO Max in the US and Sky in the UK now.

It’s week 3 of our NYC series and we’re certainly not having a day off, it’s acting legend Matthew Broderick! Star of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Producers, The Lion King, and so many more, Matthew is a born and bred New Yorker so it was meant to be! We got details of his morning coffee routine, sharing the milk with his cat, what it was like working with Marlon Brando, spending time in Ireland, visiting his mum every weekend and the delicious food they ate, eating around London & New York while working on the West End & Broadway, and we find out whether Matthew or his wife SJP has a bigger wall of shoes! What a treat to be at the top of The Standard High Line with Matthew pointing out all of the best hot spots in NYC out the window, thank you so much for joining us Matthew!!

This week for our NYC series we have the star of stage and screen, Broadway legend - and newly Tony nominated - Jonathan Groff joining us! Fresh from opening night of his brand new - and already 6 time Tony nominated - show Just In Time, Jonathan joined us at The Standard High Line for lunch. We heard all about what it’s like playing the iconic Bobby Darin and how the play came to be. We also talked about Jonathan growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania, figuring out his sexuality, working as a waiter in NYC, audition rejections, Frozen 3, and his deep love of Beyoncé. Just In Time has just opened at the Circle In The Square Theatre in NYC, and you don’t want to miss seeing him shine!

Table Manners takes on Manhattan! For our NYC series, we’re serving up the wonderful Selena Gomez and her gorgeous fiancé (and good friend of the podcast) Benny Blanco! Recorded live from the glorious Boom Bar at The Standard High Line hotel, Selena & Benny told us all about their first date in LA, the recipes Selena learned from her nana, wedding plans, how Selena got a rash after their first kiss, the meals Benny’s mum cooked him growing up, eating pickles at the cinema and that she used to hide round the corner from Benny’s house before a date. This was a total delight with the most gorgeous guests - we can’t wait for you to see what else is ahead for this stellar NYC season! Selena & Benny’s joint album ‘I Said I Love You First’ is out now.

We have CEO and entrepreneur Emma Grede joining us for lunch this week. She is the star of both Dragons’ Den & Shark Tank, and also co-creator of Skims, Good American & Safely (all created with the Kardashian family!). Over a delicious Ravinder Bhogal chicken dish, Emma taught us the details of her Thanksgiving ham recipe, talked about cooking and learning with her friend Mrs Nancy, creating her ‘’A Seat At The Table’ events, investing in the Lumberjaxe boys on Dragons’ Den, juggling being a mum and an entrepreneur, her love of an M&S cheese & celery sandwich and we discover the best trivia about brown sauce! Emma thank you so much for joining us, hope the food on the flight home was the curry you were looking for! Emma’s latest project is coming early May!

We have Emmy & BAFTA winning actor Martin Freeman joining us for dinner this week! And he may have a filthier mind than me! In the midst of rehearsals for his new play, mum served up a delicious Ginger Pig lamb with an array of gorgeous sides for Martin. We heard all about his love of musicals (especially West Side Story), how he nearly became a professional squash player in his youth, how he gave up being a vegetarian after 25 years, what it’s like being the youngest of 5 children, and we hear about the exciting new play he is starring in with Jack Lowden. We laughed throughout this whole episode, Martin was a total dream dinner party guest (even if he had given up puddings for lent!). Martin’s show ‘The Fifth Step’ opens at ‘@SohoPlace' on 12th May and runs through to the end of July.

Chat show legend Jonathan Ross and his fabulously talented and fantastic screenwriter daughter, Honey Ross join us on the podcast this week! I whipped up an Ixta Belfrage prawn lasagne, mum made a lemon curd roulade, and we settled down to hear some amazing stories from the brilliant duo. Jonathan told us all about his infamous halloween parties, Honey treated us to the story of her iconic dirty martini recipe, we heard about both of their unique collections of items, Jonathan’s online alter-ego, and we hear some delicious recipe ideas that are a must try! We couldn’t have loved both of them more, what a treat of an episode. Jonathan & Honey’s amazing film & TV podcast ‘Reel Talk’ is available to listen to wherever you get your podcasts!