Ruth Rogers: Nina had this impressive C.V. — she’d directed plays at Oxford — which didn’t really qualify her to be a waiter, but of course we took her [in 1999], and with her charm and intelligence, she immediately made the restaurant a better place. At that time, my husband, Richard Rogers [who died in 2021], and I would have charitable events at our house where actors would do one-man shows. Ian McKellen did a night. Judi Dench did a night. Nina wanted to put on a play. She chose “Ashes to Ashes” (1996) by Harold Pinter, and he agreed to come. He rather terrifyingly made it clear that there couldn’t be one extraneous sound in the house while he was there. He wasn’t an easy person, but he was so enamored of Nina.