Jay Rayner
Jay Rayner | |
|---|---|
 Rayner in 2019 | |
| Born | Jason Matthew Rayner 14 September 1966[1][dead link] |
| Education | Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds |
| Occupation(s) | Broadcaster, writer, journalist, food critic |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Employer(s) | Financial Times BBC Channel 4 Formerly, The Observer |
| Spouse | Pat Gordon-Smith[2] |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Desmond Rayner Claire Rayner |
| Awards | British Press Awards |
Jason Matthew Rayner[3] (born 14 September 1966) is a British journalist and food critic. He worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers including The Observer and The Independent on Sunday. He was the Observer restaurant critic from 1999 until 2024, when he joined the Financial Times.[4] Rayner is a judge on the British version of the cooking show MasterChef and has written several novels.
Early life
Rayner was born on 14 September 1966.[5] He is the younger son of Desmond Rayner and journalist Claire Rayner. His family is Jewish.[6] He was raised in the Sudbury Hill area of Harrow, London, and attended the independent Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School.[7] He studied politics at the University of Leeds, where he was editor of the Leeds Student newspaper, graduating in 1988.[5]
Career
Rayner worked as a freelance journalist after graduating, writing for newspapers including The Observer and The Independent on Sunday. In 1992, he was named Young Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards. He worked as a feature writer for The Guardian, The Mail on Sunday, and The Observer before becoming the Observer restaurant critic in 1999.[5]
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many restaurants were forced to close, Rayner announced he would not publish negative reviews. He wrote: "That doesn't mean giving good reviews to bad places, or not including criticisms. It just means that if I can't be generally positive, I won't review and will move on."[8]
Rayner has written for magazines including GQ, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, the New Statesman and Granta. His first novel, The Marble Kiss, published in 1994, was shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. His second, Day of Atonement (1998) was shortlisted for the Jewish Quarterly Prize for Fiction.[9] His first non-fiction book, Stardust Falling, was published in 2002. His third novel, The Apologist, was published in 2004.
In 1997, Rayner won a Sony Radio Award for Papertalk, BBC Radio 5 Live's magazine programme about the newspaper business, which he presented. He chairs BBC Radio 4's food panel programme The Kitchen Cabinet.[10]
Rayner is a judge on the UK version of MasterChef.[11] He is the food reporter on the BBC magazine programme The One Show, and was on the panel of judges on the American programme Top Chef Masters. He appeared as a guest judge on the "UK" episode of The Final Table, season 1. Rayner hosts the Out to Lunch podcast in which he interviews a celebrity guest in each episode.[12]
In November 2024, Rayner announced he had left The Observer. Rayner was critical of its pending sale to Tortoise Media, and wrote that some Guardian staff were antisemitic, which made it "uncomfortable, at times excruciating" to work for.[4] He joined the Financial Times as their new restaurant critic, amid an expansion of its weekend food and drink coverage.[4]
Personal life
Rayner was awarded the title Beard of the Year for 2011 by the Beard Liberation Front.[13] He plays piano with his jazz ensemble the Jay Rayner Sextet.[14] He described himself as a non-observant Jew.[4]
Books
Fiction
- —— (1994). The Marble Kiss. Macmillan. ISBN 9780333621349.
- —— (1998). Day of Atonement. Black Swan. ISBN 9780552997836.
- —— (2004). The Apologist. McArthur & Company. ISBN 9781552784167.
- —— (2007). The Oyster House Siege. Atlantic Books. ISBN 9781843545668.
Non-fiction
- —— (2002). Star Dust Falling. Black Swan. ISBN 9780552999083.
- —— (2008). The Man Who Ate the World. Holt Paperbacks. ISBN 9780805086690.[15]
- —— (2012). My Dining Hell: Twenty Ways to Have a Lousy Night Out. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780241963203.
- —— (2014). A Greedy Man in a Hungry World. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780007237609.
- —— (2016). The Ten (Food) Commandments. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780241976692.
- —— (2018). Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781783351763.[16]
- —— (2019). My Last Supper. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781783351466.
- —— (2021). Chewing the Fat: Tasting Notes from a Greedy Life. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781783352395.
Awards
- Restaurant Critic of the Year, Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards (2001)[17]
- Critic of the Year, British Press Awards (2006)[18]
References
- ^ "Researcha". Web.researcha.com.
- ^ Neustatter, Angela (3 November 1996). "Is it time confessional man shut up?". The Independent. London.
- ^ "Search Results for England 26 Wales Births 1837-2006".
- ^ a b c d Maher, Bron (21 November 2024). "Jay Rayner leaves Observer as departing editor slams planned sale". Press Gazette. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ a b c "Rayner, Jay". Rayner, Jay, (Born 14 Sept. 1966), freelance writer, journalist, broadcaster and musician. Who's Who. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u119824.
- ^ "Books | The Big Interview: Jay Rayner". Yorkshire Post. 2 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013.
- ^ Rayner, Jay (2 March 2003). "Tales my mother never told me". The Observer. London. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ Rayner, Jay (17 September 2020). "I put negative reviews on pause after lockdown. Here's why that must continue". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^ "Jewish Quarterly Literary Prize Winners 1996 – 2000 inclusive". The Jewish Quarterly). 16 March 2009. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ "The Kitchen Cabinet" at BBC Radio 4. Archived 15 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 June 2015
- ^ Rayner, Jay (23 December 2023). "I've spent years tasting dishes on MasterChef. Now it's my turn to put on the apron". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ Woode, David (24 August 2019). "Food podcasts: The five best for cookery fans from Out To Lunch with Jay Rayner to Off Menu". i.
- ^ "2011: a good year for facial hair". Open Road. 29 December 2011. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ "VIDEO: Masterchef star Jay Rayner brings foodie fun to Northampton". 12 October 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ^ Jeffcoat, Rachel (27 May 2009). "Interview with Jay Rayner". digyorkshire.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Announcing - a new collection of my scorching reviews of terrible restaurants". Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ Rayner, Jay (27 May 2001). "House of cards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
- ^ "British Press Awards: Past winners". Press Gazette. 22 February 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
