The UK’s most influential food and drink journalist shoots a few of the sacred cows of the food world.
The doctrine of local food is dead. Farmers’ markets are merely a lifestyle choice for the affluent middle classes. And ‘organic’ has become little more than a marketing label that is way past its sell by date. That may be a little hard to swallow for the ethically-aware food shopper but it doesn’t make it any less true. And now the UK’s most outspoken and entertaining food writer is ready to explain why.
This engaging, witty and honest narrative is driven by the appetite of one large man: Jay Rayner – someone who lives to eat, but also understands that there is a world beyond the high-end obsessions of the farmers’ market. Combining sharply-observed memoir – growing up with the UK’s most famous agony aunt who also happened to be a bloody good TV chef; witnessing the arrival of McDonald’s and Dayville’s ice cream in Seventies London; working as a butcher’s boy – with hard-nosed reportage, Jay Rayner will blow conventional foodie wisdom apart. For here is the reality: within a few decades we will have nine billion mouths to feed, and we won’t be doing that by flogging free-range eggs from a stall in Borough market.
Jay explains why the doctrine of organic has been eclipsed by the need for sustainable intensification; and why the future lies in large-scale food production rather than the cottage industries that foodies often cheer for. From the the cornfields of Illinois to the killing lines of Yorkshire abattoirs, Rayner takes us on a journey that will change the way we shop, cook and eat forever. And give us a few belly laughs along the way.

A Greedy Man in a Hungry World

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

RAYNER, Jay

Cooking Education & Reference

William Collins

Star Dust Falling: The Story of the Plane That Vanished

History

Historical Study & Educational Resources

DOUBLEDAY

The Ten Commandments may have had a lot going for them, but they don't offer those of us located in the 21st century much in the way of guidance when it comes to our relationship with our food. And Lord knows we need it. Enter our new culinary Moses, the legendary restaurant critic Jay Rayner, with a new set of hand-tooled commandments for this food-obsessed age. He deals once and for all with questions like whether it is ever okay to covet thy neighbor's oxen (it is), eating with your hands (very important indeed), and if you should cut off the fat (no). Combining reportage and anecdotes with recipes worthy of adoration, Jay Rayner brings us the new foodie rules to live by.

The Ten (Food) Commandments

Penguin

A.V.M. Bennett, much decorated in the war for his exploits flying Lancaster bombers, was appointed to run British South American Airways (BSAA) straight after the war, using converted Lancasters as passenger aircraft and employing members of his wartime squadron as pilots. His was one of the first long-haul airlines, and he specialized in the South American routes.

STAR DUST FALLING

Apologizing to the widow of a chef who committed suicide after receiving a bad review, restaurant critic Marc Basset so enjoys being forgiven that he decides to apologize to everyone he has ever wronged, setting in motion a series of events that culminates in his appointment as Chief Apologist for the United Nations. 35,000 first printing.

Eating Crow: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Literary

Simon&Schuster

Marc Basset has a well-deserved reputation as a pitiless restaurant critic. When he writes a devastating review of a celebrated restaurant, the chef commits suicide, roasting himself in his own fan-assisted oven, with Basset's review pasted to the door. Suddenly Basset is moved to do something he has never done before: apologize. Startled by the widow's forgiveness and absolution, he feels unexpectedly euphoric. In an effort to maintain this newfound state of bliss, he decides to gorge himself on contrition by apologizing to every person he has ever done wrong. And that's just the beginning. After a series of virtuoso expressions of regret, word of Basset's mollifying power spreads, and he is tapped to become Chief Apologist for the United Nations. His job is to travel the globe in his own Gulfstream V private jet, apologizing for everything from colonialism through exploitation to slavery. It is a role that brings him fame, wealth, and access to a lot of very good chocolate. But in a world overdosing on emotion, does Marc Basset really have the stomach to become the sorriest man in history? Built of delicate layers of heinous crime, forgiveness, and outrageous gastronomy, Jay Rayner's hilarious new novel is an arch comedy of modern appetite and etiquette.

Eating Crow: A Novel of Apology

British & Irish

An astronomical gastronomical undertaking —one of the world’s preeminent restaurant critics takes on the giants of haute cuisine, one tasting menu at a time Like the luxury fashion companies Gucci and Chanel, high-end dining has gone global, and Jay Rayner has watched, amazed, as the great names of the restaurant business have turned themselves from artisans into international brands.Long suspecting that his job was too good to be true, Rayner uses his entrée into this world to probe the larger issues behind the globalization of dinner. Combining memoir with vivid scenes at the table; interviews with the world’s most renowned chefs, restaurateurs, and eaters; and a few well-placed rants and raves about life as a paid gourmand, Rayner puts his thoughtful, innovative, and hilarious stamp on food writing. He reports on high-end gastronomy from Vegas to Dubai, Moscow to Tokyo, London to New York, ending in Paris where he attempts to do with Michelin-starred restaurants what Morgan Spurlock did with McDonald’s in Super Size Me—eating at those establishments on consecutive days and never refusing a sixteen-course tasting menu when it’s offered.The Man Who Ate the World is a fascinating and riotous look at the business and pleasure of fine dining.

The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Headline Home

The Man Who Ate The World is a journey through the great cities of the world. It's about extraordinary restaurants and the people who visit them. It's about the globalisation of high culture, the market in taste and the money spent on it. And, of course, it's about dinner. From Las Vegas to Moscow, Dubai to Tokyo and New York to London, Jay Rayner chronicles the revolution in high-end gastronomy that has been sweeping the world since the late eighties. Not simply an account of endless meals in high-end restaurants, it is an exploration of the cities and cultures in which they are found; the inevitable involvement of Russian mafia in Moscow's luxury post-soviet catering business, Tokyo's efforts to fuse ancient Asian culture with Western ideas, and the feverish cult of the Manhattan restaurant in a town which considers itself the most cosmopolitan in the world. Part character-driven travelogue, part food critique, always sharp and often funny, this book is the result of Jay's lifelong campaign to find the perfect meal. Just don't read it if you're hungry.

The Man Who Ate the World

An astronomical gastronomical undertaking —one of the world’s preeminent restaurant critics takes on the giants of haute cuisine, one tasting menu at a time
Like the luxury fashion companies Gucci and Chanel, high-end dining has gone global, and Jay Rayner has watched, amazed, as the great names of the restaurant business have turned themselves from artisans into international brands.
Long suspecting that his job was too good to be true, Rayner uses his entrée into this world to probe the larger issues behind the globalization of dinner. Combining memoir with vivid scenes at the table; interviews with the world’s most renowned chefs, restaurateurs, and eaters; and a few well-placed rants and raves about life as a paid gourmand, Rayner puts his thoughtful, innovative, and hilarious stamp on food writing. He reports on high-end gastronomy from Vegas to Dubai, Moscow to Tokyo, London to New York, ending in Paris where he attempts to do with Michelin-starred restaurants what Morgan Spurlock did with McDonald’s in Super Size Me—eating at those establishments on consecutive days and never refusing a sixteen-course tasting menu when it’s offered.
The Man Who Ate the World is a fascinating and riotous look at the business and pleasure of fine dining.

Henry Holt and Co.

"A hilarious and insightful journey into the world of restaurant meals."―Mario Batali 
"Nobody goes to restaurants for nutritional reasons. They go for the experience. And what price a really top experience?" 
What price indeed? Fearlessly, and with great wit and verve, award-winning restaurant critic Jay Rayner goes in search of the perfect meal. From the Tokyo sushi chef who offers a toast of snake-infused liquor to close a spectacular meal, to Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas where Robuchon himself eagerly watches his guest's every mouthful, to seven three-star Michelin restaurants in seven days in Paris, Rayner conducts a whirlwind tour of high-end gastronomy that will thrill the heart―and stomach―of any armchair gourmand. Along the way, he uses his entrée into the restaurant world to probe the larger issues behind the globalization of dinner. 
Riotously funny and shrewdly observed, The Man Who Ate the World is a fascinating look at the business and pleasure of fine dining.

Community & Culture

Holt Paperbacks

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by RAYNER, Jay. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by RAYNER, Jay

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by RAYNER, Jay. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Greedy Man in a Hungry World

Star Dust Falling: The Story of the Plane That Vanished

The Ten (Food) Commandments

STAR DUST FALLING

Eating Crow: A Novel

Eating Crow: A Novel of Apology

The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner

The Man Who Ate the World

The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner

The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner