Jason Matthew Rayner (born 14 September 1966) is an English

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

food critic The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...

Early life

Jason Matthew Rayner was born on 14 September 1966. He is the younger son of Desmond Rayner and journalist

Claire Rayner Claire Berenice Rayner, OBE (; née Chetwynd; 22 January 1931 – 11 October 2010) was an English journalist, broadcaster, novelist and nurse, best known for her role for many years as an advice columnist. Early life Rayner was born to Jewish ...

. His family is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He was raised in the Sudbury Hill area of Harrow and attended the independent

Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School Haberdashers' Boys' School (also known as Haberdashers', Habs, or Habs Boys), until September 2021 known as Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, is a public school for pupils age 4 to 18 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. The school is a me ...

. He studied politics at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – 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 ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' and ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

''. In 1992, he was named Young Journalist of the Year in the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named '' ...

. He worked as a feature writer for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the '' Daily Mail'', was first pu ...

'', and ''The Observer'' before becoming the ''Observer'' restaurant critic in 1999. In 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, 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." Rayner has also written for magazines including '' GQ'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' and ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

''. His first novel, ''The Marble Kiss'', published in 1994, was shortlisted for the

Author's Club First Novel Award The Authors' Club Best First Novel Award is awarded by the Authors' Club to the most promising first novel of the year, written by a British author and published in the UK during the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is presented. ...

and his second, ''Day of Atonement'' (1998) was shortlisted for the Jewish Quarterly Prize for Fiction. His first non-fiction book, ''Stardust Falling'', was published in 2002; this was followed by his third novel ''The Apologist'', published in the US as ''Eating Crow'', in 2004. In 1997 he won a

Sony Radio Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

for ''Papertalk'',

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

's magazine programme about the newspaper business, which he presented. He chairs a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme called '' The Kitchen Cabinet''.The Kitchen Cabinet at BBC
. Retrieved 6 June 2015 He was one of the panel of critics who made up the eponymous "enemy" on the daytime cookery show ''Eating with the Enemy'', and performs a similar role on the UK version of ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with the UK version in July 1990. The format was revived and updated for the BBC in February 2005 by executive producers Roddam and John ...

''. He is the food reporter on the BBC magazine programme ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'', and was on the panel of judges on the American programme ''

Top Chef Masters ''Top Chef Masters'' is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo, and premiered June 10, 2009. It is a spinoff of Bravo's hit show ''Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition te ...

''. He appeared as a guest judge on the "UK" episode of ''

The Final Table ''The Final Table'' is an American cooking competition and reality television series hosted by food writer and critic Andrew Knowlton, and filmed in Los Angeles, California for Netflix. The first season was released on November 20, 2018. It fe ...

'', season 1. Rayner hosts the ''Out to Lunch'' podcast in which he interviews a celebrity guest in each episode.

Personal life

He was awarded the title Beard of the Year for 2011 by the

Beard Liberation Front The Beard Liberation Front (BLF) is a British interest group which campaigns in support of beards and opposes pogonophobic discrimination against those who wear them. It was founded in 1995 by socialist historian Keith Flett who continues to organ ...

. He plays piano with his jazz ensemble the Jay Rayner Quartet.

Books

Fiction

* ''The Marble Kiss'' (1994), * ''Day of Atonement'' (1998), * ''The Apologist'' (2004),
''The Oyster House Siege''
(2007),

Non-fiction

* ''Star Dust Falling'' (2002), * ''The Man Who Ate the World'' (2008), * ''My Dining Hell: Twenty Ways to Have a Lousy Night Out'' (2012), * ''A Greedy Man in a Hungry World'' (2014), * ''The Ten (Food) Commandments'' (2016), * ''Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights'' (2018), a collection of some of Rayner's negative reviewsAnnouncing - a new collection of my scorching reviews of terrible restaurants
/ref> * ''My Last Supper'' (2019),

Awards

Restaurant Critic Of The Year, Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards
(2001)
Critic Of The Year, British Press Awards
(2006)

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Jay 1966 births Living people People from the London Borough of Harrow People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School Alumni of the University of Leeds English male journalists British restaurant critics English Jews English television presenters English television personalities 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers English republicans