Jay Rayner, Journalist and Food Critic

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Jay Rayner is a writer, journalist, broadcaster and food critic. He born in 1966 and grew up in Harrow. His father, Desmond, was an actor; his mother was the journalist and well-known advice columnist Claire Rayner. He started working in newspapers in 1988 and since then he’s been both a feature writer and columnist, on everything from crime and politics, to the arts and fashion. He’s also authored four novels and eight works of non-fiction. Jay is undoubtedly best-known as a restaurant critic, with a distinctive, sometimes acerbic style. He was the Observer's restaurant critic from 1999 until February this year, when he joined the Financial Times in the same role. As a broadcaster, he’s been a judge on MasterChef, and since 2012 he’s hosted the food panel show The Kitchen Cabinet for BBC Radio 4. Jay Rayner revealed his favourite haunts, memories, pet hates and everything in between with Robert Elms. This interview was originally broadcast in August 2016.