The Classic Meal Pete Davidson Loves From His Childhood

The podcast "River Cafe Table 4" has a really strong premise, if you think about it. Ruth Rogers, celebrated restaurateur-to-the-stars and longtime owner of London's storied River Cafe, interviews some of the celebrities that she knows, asking each to read aloud their favorite recipe before skillfully employing food-related topics as a jumping-off point for getting her guest to open up. And just to be clear, we say "brilliant" because food, thoughts of food, memories of food — it's all closely tied to our emotions, per BBC Travel. If you need an example, just hit play on pretty much any episode of "Hot Ones." Or you could read on. 

The first full-length episode of "River Cafe Table 4" began streaming on September 21, 2021, with celebrity guest Jake Gyllenhaal (via iHeart). Other celebrities who have gone on to get real with Rogers over dining-related discussions included Victoria Beckham, Paul McCartney, and Emily Blunt. Most recently, Rogers played host to the comedian, actor, and producer Pete Davidson. On November 16, Davidson — who isn't known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, per The Sun — found himself opening up about his childhood dinners growing up the son of a single mother. Although Davidson seemed somewhat reserved at the start of the interview, by the time he was talking about the classic meal he loved during his childhood, he was putty in his interviewer's hands. 

When "River Cafe Table 4" host Ruth Rogers asked Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson to talk about what food was like while he was growing up, it was as if Rogers had flipped a switch in the comedian, who'd spent the first few agonizing minutes seemingly struggling to answer Rogers' inquiries about home cooking. (Davidson was clear in saying he had no knowledge of cooking whatsoever.) Thankfully, Rogers did catch on, quickly pivoting to the topic of childhood food memories, at which Davidson transformed palpably.

First, Davidson low-key shouted out to his mom, a single mom and nurse. She rarely had time to cook, as Davidson explained, but there was "one thing" she was "really good at": breaded chicken cutlets. "I still have yet to have a better chicken cutlet anywhere else," he said. Davidson even gamely tried to help Rogers piece together his mother's chicken cutlets recipe — even after admitting, "I have no idea." But when he watched, he recalls seeing raw chicken, a plate of "yellow stuff" (eggs, as Rogers pointed out), and breadcrumbs. And there was something about twice-dipping the chicken, although it seemed as if Rogers kind of put that idea into Davidson's head. But the cutest part was when Davidson admitted the chicken cutlets were so good that he couldn't wait to plate them and instead grabbed them off the counter as his mom finished cooking them.