THE MAN WHO ATE THE WORLD

Jay Rayner, Headline Review, US$34

There are many arguments over the culinary capital of the world: Paris, London, Tokyo, New York; and in this book, Jay Rayner, the award-winning restaurant critic for the London Observer, visits them all. The subtitle of the book is In Search of the Perfect Dinner, and for business travellers with a love of food and some knowledge of famous and expensive restaurants (and chefs), it’s an entertaining read.

Rayner’s tone is uneven, however. The book begins with a foreword (entitled “Warning!”) advising the best time of day to read the book, and the ideal snack while doing do (Turkish pistachios apparently) in a tone so winsome I was tempted to give up immediately, but then there’s a lovely piece about how Rayner developed his love of food, and I was hooked. What follows is a whirlwind tour round the major dining cities of the world, including those contenders to the crown of world centre of fine dining: Dubai, Las Vegas and Moscow.

Rayner is refreshing in his lack of snobbery. He describes how for most food writers, “…the real thing is up on the hill, far from the last metalled road. It is the farmhouse or down by the stream where the salmon leap… I have long been suspicious of this… there is something about the cult of authenticity that bothers me. It venerates lifestyles lived in poverty for being in some way more genuine than those lived in comfort.”

And so he goes off to tables “laid with heavy white linen and sparkling glassware” .

Unfortunately, he gets in a bit of tangle, eating with restaurant PRs, accepting some meals for free, in other places paying for the meals but having his trip arranged by the marketing departments. It shows in the fact that in the end, he seems to prefer the meals where he slips through the net and makes his own arrangements, which probably coincides with our own happy discoveries as opposed to restaurants we have had to book months in advance. Nevertheless, an informative read.

Tom Otley