Jay Rayner: Why Trying to Be Liked Is a Recipe for Failure

Jay Rayner has eaten some of the best meals in the world - and written some of Britain’s most memorable restaurant reviews. But the story behind the critic is even richer.

In this candid conversation, Jay joins James O’Brien to talk about the unlikely path from a famously unconventional childhood to becoming one of Britain’s most recognisable writers and broadcasters. There are school expulsions, tabloid diary columns, high-stakes investigations, celebrity encounters and the restaurant review that became an international news story.

Jay reflects on growing up with his mother, agony aunt Claire Rayner; discovering oysters at ten; and learning that food is a doorway into memory, class, politics and pleasure. He also reveals why he walked away from a fast-moving newspaper career, how he accidentally became The Observer’s restaurant critic, and why he still believes every great restaurant has a story to tell.

Along the way, Jay talks about his move to the Financial Times, his love of broadcasting and jazz, and why - after decades in journalism - he still cannot retire from the inside of his own head.

Find out more about Nights Out in the Kitchen by Jay Rayner here

Full Disclosure is a Global Production

Listen or watch every Friday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(346)

Robert Harris: From Tony Blair’s Inner Circle to Hollywood’s Conclave

From watching Tony Blair win a landslide from inside his living room to imagining a world where Hitler won the war, Robert Harris has made a career out of getting closer to power than most.In this epi...

28 Aug 1h 4min

Alexei Sayle: I never thought we’d end up here

Alexei Sayle has spent a lifetime finding humour in anger, absurdity and the systems that shape us. Raised in Liverpool by fiercely committed communist parents, his childhood was filled with politics,...

21 Aug 1h 1min

Amelia Dimoldenberg: How Chicken Shop Date became a global phenomenon

Before she became the creator behind Chicken Shop Date, Amelia Dimoldenberg was a relentlessly ambitious child from Marylebone, dreaming of editing Vogue, joining S Club Juniors and taking to the stag...

14 Aug 59min

Dr Ranj Singh: “I Was Outed To My Parents”

Beloved TV doctor, children’s author and NHS paediatrician Dr Ranj Singh tells James O’Brien the extraordinary story behind the smile - from the collapse of the life he thought he was supposed to want...

7 Aug 1h 1min

Tim Booth: The Story of James, Sit Down and Laid

As the magnetic frontman of James, Tim Booth has spent more than four decades turning raw emotion into some of Britain’s most loved music - from Sit Down and Laid to a run of acclaimed new records.Tim...

31 Juli 1h

Tom Kerridge: “Being a Chef is Nothing To Do with Food”

From growing up on a Gloucester council estate to becoming one of Britain’s best-known culinary success stories, Tom Kerridge has built a career defined by resilience, risk and an enduring belief in p...

24 Juli 1h 3min

Ravi Singh: The man who runs towards disaster

What makes someone run towards places most people are desperate to escape?Long before Ravi Singh became one of Britain’s most remarkable humanitarian figures, he was a child caught between worlds: bor...

17 Juli 1h 1min