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Jay Rayner, who ‘ate his way around the world’ in search of perfection |
Camden food and drink | critic Jay Rayner's new book | The Man who ate the World
Jay Rayner recently went in
search of the perfect meal – but food doesn’t have to come from
far off places to impress this
critic, writes Dan Carrier
JAY Rayner has an enviable job.
The restaurant critic, whose words on food entertain readers of the Observer newspaper each week, spends his time scoffing consumables prepared by gastronomic wizards and then telling the world about it.
The only downside seems to be a tendency to put on weight – and then spend an hour a day in the gym trying to take it off again.
And there is another worry haunting the critic – a fear that he has tried to exorcise between the pages of his new book. He has been dogged by the idea, after he finishes each dish, that somewhere out there is a meal of such exquisite perfection, he is wasting his time while he waits for his second course.
So it was with this burning inquisitiveness in mind that he embarked on researching a topic that has formed the basis of his new book: a world-wide search for the perfect dinner.
He enjoyed a crawl of six New York restaurants in one night (who would not?) and felt privileged to be served in the world’s smallest and best proportioned Sushi outlet in Japan (he had a chef all to himself, who prepared dish after dish in front of him).
Other meals were not so successful. One place offered him a sea cucumber – “fishy snot” was Rayner’s verdict – while the Moscow leg of his trip was a chapter of the sad fact that Communism has been replaced by Mafiosa who need restaurants to flaunt their wealth rather than fill a gastronomic need.
He also took in Las Vegas, Dubai, Paris and London – not bad for a day job.
But the idea of the book was not so much about the eating as the stories of the cities he visited.
His book makes much of how he was influenced by his parents. His mother, the agony aunt Clare Rayner, encouraged him to eat adventurously as youngster. He recalls a school ski trip where he sneaked out of the hotel each night to head to a restaurant that served snails. The 11-year-old Rayner went there five nights in a row.
And he says it is not a struggle to encourage a love of food in the young.
“You have to lead by example, and have an approachable attitude,” he says. “I tell my children they can never say they do not like something if they haven’t tried it. They have to eat a little bit before they can refuse it – that is fine, as long as they have made the effort to eat it.”
So where does he like to eat in north London, on those rare nights off when he is eating out but not reviewing? “There are a couple of places I like, even though they don’t serve the best food in the world,” he says.
The first is the famous Greek restaurant Lemonia, in Primrose Hill.
“It is a barn of a place and isn’t the best Greek food you can get in London,” he says.
“But it is a wonderful restaurant – I love the bish, bash, bosh feel about it, and they are great at serving families. I love eating there.”
The second is a lesser-known dining experience beneath a mansion block in St John’s Wood called Oslo Court.
“It is full of old Jewish people celebrating their birthdays,” he says.
“It does lovely, large portions of old-fashioned food and has the most tremendous sweet trolley – something you do not see enough of nowadays.”
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