Lunch with Jay Rayner

He’s described a Gefilte fish dish as so leaden it could ‘pull planets out of alignment’ and wondered if a mussel shell contained ‘the retracted scrotum of a hairless cat’ – there is truly only one Jay Rayner.

The loved and feared London-based food critic has won a huge following in Britain thanks to his sometimes curmudgeonly, sometimes rapturous, usually hilarious and always entertaining restaurant reviews for the Observer. He’s been outspoken, too, on many food-related issues – from the suspicious elements of the organic movement to the scourge of ‘superfoods’.

In this intimate meal and conversation with Michael Williams, Jay will discuss his book, My Dining Hell: Twenty Ways to Have a Lousy Night Out, and share tales from his years eating out across the world.