Jay Rayner
{{Short description|English journalist and food critic (born 1966)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jay Rayner
| image = Jay Rayner 20191205.jpg
| caption = Rayner in 2019
| birth_name = Jason Matthew Rayner
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1966|09|14}}{{cite web |url=http://web.researcha.com/iccquery/detail/did=4354535&c=uk |title=Researcha |publisher=Web.researcha.com}}{{dead link|date=July 2012}}
| birth_place = Brent, London, England
| education = {{nowrap|Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School}}
| alma_mater = University of Leeds
| occupation = Broadcaster, writer, journalist, food critic
| employer = Financial Times
BBC
Channel 4
Formerly, The Observer
| parents = Desmond Rayner
Claire Rayner
| years_active = 1988–present
| children = 2
| awards = British Press Awards
}}
Jason Matthew Rayner (born 14 September 1966) is a British journalist and food critic. He has 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. 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.{{cite encyclopedia |entry=Rayner, Jay |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1 December 2007 |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u119824 |encyclopedia=Who's Who|title=Rayner, Jay, (Born 14 Sept. 1966), freelance writer, journalist, broadcaster and musician }}{{Cite web |title=Search Results for England 26 Wales Births 1837-2006 |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/results?datasetname=england+%26+wales+births+1837-2006&firstname=j&lastname=rayner&eventyear=1966&eventyear_offset=0&mothersmaidenname=chetwynd}} He is the younger son of Desmond Rayner and journalist Claire Rayner. His family is Jewish.{{Cite web |url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/the-arts/books/the-big-interview-jay-rayner-1-5716032 |title =Books {{!}} The Big Interview: Jay Rayner |work= Yorkshire Post |date=2 June 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130707064415/http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/the-arts/books/the-big-interview-jay-rayner-1-5716032 |archive-date=7 July 2013 |url-status=dead}} He was raised in the Sudbury Hill area of Harrow, London, and attended the independent Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School.{{cite news| url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,905443,00.html | newspaper=The Observer | location=London | title=Tales my mother never told me | first=Jay | last=Rayner | date=2003-03-02 | access-date=2010-05-06}} He studied politics at the University of Leeds, where he was editor of the Leeds Student newspaper, graduating in 1988.
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.
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."{{Cite news|last=Rayner|first=Jay|date=2020-09-17|title=I put negative reviews on pause after lockdown. Here's why that must continue|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/sep/17/negative-restaurant-reviews-on-pause-lockdown-heres-why-jay-rayner|access-date=2020-09-27|issn=0261-3077}}
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.{{cite web
|url=http://www.jewishquarterly.org/issuearchive/wingateprize2.shtml
|title=Jewish Quarterly Literary Prize Winners 1996 – 2000 inclusive
|work=The Jewish Quarterly)
|date=2009-03-16
|access-date=2012-07-03
|archive-date=16 January 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116072705/http://www.jewishquarterly.org/issuearchive/wingateprize2.shtml
|url-status=dead
}} 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.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p9l1v "The Kitchen Cabinet"] at BBC Radio 4. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115084134/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p9l1v|date=15 January 2016}}. Retrieved 6 June 2015
Rayner is a judge on the UK version of MasterChef.{{Cite news |last=Rayner |first=Jay |date=2023-12-23 |title=I've spent years tasting dishes on MasterChef. Now it's my turn to put on the apron |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/dec/23/jay-rayner-masterchef-christmas-special |access-date=2024-11-07 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}} 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.{{cite news|work=i|url= https://inews.co.uk/culture/radio/food-podcasts-five-best-cookery-out-to-lunch-jay-rayner-off-menu-496639|title=Food podcasts: The five best for cookery fans from Out To Lunch with Jay Rayner to Off Menu|first=David|last=Woode|date=August 24, 2019}}
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.{{Cite news |last=Warrington |first=James |date=2024-11-22 |title=Jay Rayner accuses Guardian of employing anti-Semites |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/11/22/jay-rayner-accuses-guardian-employing-anti-semites/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |last=Maher |first=Bron |date=2024-11-21 |title=Jay Rayner leaves Observer as departing editor slams planned sale |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/media-jobs-uk-news/jay-rayner-observer-financial-times/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}} He joined the Financial Times as their new restaurant critic, amid an expansion of its weekend food and drink coverage.
Personal life
Rayner was awarded the title Beard of the Year for 2011 by the Beard Liberation Front.{{cite web
|url=http://www.theopen-road.com/2011-a-good-year-for-facial-hair
|title=2011: a good year for facial hair
|publisher=Open Road
|date=2011-12-29
|access-date=2012-07-03
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818121815/http://www.theopen-road.com/2011-a-good-year-for-facial-hair
|archive-date=18 August 2016
|url-status=dead
}} He plays piano with his jazz ensemble the Jay Rayner Sextet.{{cite news |title=VIDEO: Masterchef star Jay Rayner brings foodie fun to Northampton |url=https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/whats-on/video-masterchef-star-jay-rayner-brings-foodie-fun-to-northampton-1-8666726 |access-date=2 November 2018 |date=12 October 2018 |language=en}} He described himself as a non-observant Jew.
Books
= Fiction=
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=The Marble Kiss |year=1994 |isbn=9780333621349 |publisher=Macmillan}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=Day of Atonement |year=1998 |isbn=9780552997836 |publisher=Black Swan}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=The Apologist |year=2004 |isbn=9781552784167 |publisher=McArthur & Company}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=The Oyster House Siege |year=2007 |isbn=9781843545668 |publisher=Atlantic Books |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/mar/04/crimebooks.features}}
= Non-fiction =
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=Star Dust Falling |year=2002 |isbn=9780552999083 |publisher=Black Swan}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=The Man Who Ate the World |year=2008 |isbn=9780805086690 |publisher=Holt Paperbacks}}{{cite web|url=http://www.digyorkshire.com/HighlightDetails.aspx?Article=189|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729055147/http://www.digyorkshire.com/HighlightDetails.aspx?Article=189|url-status=usurped|archive-date=29 July 2012|title=Interview with Jay Rayner|first=Rachel|last=Jeffcoat|publisher=digyorkshire.com |date=2009-05-27 |access-date=2009-06-17}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=My Dining Hell: Twenty Ways to Have a Lousy Night Out |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2012 |isbn=9780241963203}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=A Greedy Man in a Hungry World |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2014 |isbn=9780007237609}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=The Ten (Food) Commandments |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2016 |isbn=9780241976692}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights |publisher=Biteback Publishing |year=2018 |isbn=9781783351763}}{{Cite web |title=Announcing - a new collection of my scorching reviews of terrible restaurants |url=http://www.jayrayner.co.uk/news/announcing-a-new-collection-of-my-scorching-reviews-of-terrible-restaurants-publ-october-4-perfectly-timed-for-christmas-price-5/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109031403/http://www.jayrayner.co.uk/news/announcing-a-new-collection-of-my-scorching-reviews-of-terrible-restaurants-publ-october-4-perfectly-timed-for-christmas-price-5/ |archive-date=9 November 2018 |access-date=11 December 2018}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=My Last Supper |publisher=Biteback Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=9781783351466}}
- {{cite book |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-mask=2 |title=Chewing the Fat: Tasting Notes from a Greedy Life |publisher=Biteback Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=9781783352395}}
Awards
- Restaurant Critic of the Year, Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards (2001){{Cite news |last=Rayner |first=Jay |date=2001-05-27 |title=House of cards |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/may/27/foodanddrink.restaurants |access-date=2024-11-23 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
- Critic of the Year, British Press Awards (2006){{Cite web |date=2012-02-22 |title=British Press Awards: Past winners |website= Press Gazette |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=3&storycode=39598 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222033127/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=3&storycode=39598 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-02-22 |access-date=2024-11-23 }}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{official}}
- {{IMDb name|id=1922099|name=Jay Rayner}}
- [http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/a_bite_with_the_man_who_ate_the_world.htm Gourmet Traveller interview "A Bite With the Man Who Ate The World"]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Jay}}
Category:20th-century English male writers
Category:20th-century English novelists
Category:21st-century English male writers
Category:21st-century English novelists
Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds
Category:British restaurant critics
Category:Jewish English writers
Category:English jazz pianists
Category:English male journalists
Category:English male novelists
Category:English television personalities
Category:English television presenters
Category:People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School
Category:People from the London Borough of Harrow