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

by Jay Rayner (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £16.99
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Customers buy this book with Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table by Nigel Slater

The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner + Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Headline Review; First Edition edition (3 April 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0755316347
  • ISBN-13: 978-0755316342
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 13.6 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 31,828 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #34 in  Books > Food & Drink > Food & Travel Writing

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Product Description

Review
'A witty world tour of gastronomic culture' -- Scotland on Sunday 20080330

Product Description
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.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another helping, please, 30 Aug 2008
By K. Johnston (Hove, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have not read too much of Jay Rayner's work in the papers, or his novels, so this is my introduction to the man and his appetite. I completely fell in love with his writing - I think he has the most beautiful, original, and apt turn of phrase of any food writer I can think of today. And so funny! It must take him days to think up some of those lines. They continue to give me pleasure now.

But he has a lot of acute and important observations to make about the fine dining restaurant business, and like another reviewer, I was particularly appreciative of his comments re: Ramsay et al, and global brand domination, and insights into the dubious world of the Moscow restaurant scene. This all sounds very dull - in his skilled hands, it really isn't, it's absolutely compelling, and good to know someone (thankfully a warrior-sized someone) is pointing the finger.

I don't agree that Rayner likes restaurants populated by stick-thin posh types - in fact, he repeatedly asks questions about the nature of who it is that eats in top-class restaurants, and whether or not they are the kind who would most appreciate what it is that they are eating, and paying top dollar for. And he's scrupulously honest about his own membership to this elite club, and what that means about him, and his future eating habits and pleasures.

This reads like a novel in some ways (which makes sense, I guess), in that Rayner goes on a journey, there's a learning curve. He starts out starry-eyed, ambitious, somewhat in thrall to the restaurant auteurs, but falls out of love on more than one occasion with them, with the excesses and wastage that attend fine dining, and with writing about food for a living. He challenges himself. He has revelations. He is humbled. And finally, towards the end, finds a way back to loving to eat, and to doing what he does best.

I find Jay the perfect dining companion. I urge others to seek out his company - and a good few interesting dinners - in these pages too.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Man Who Ate the World, 13 April 2008
Delightful read, witty, engaging and wonderfully written.

If you're a keen foodie, this should be on your shelf. Laugh out loud funny and frequently touching, you feel as if you're eating each meal beside him.
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3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Undigested, 22 April 2008
Sorry to begin on a wail of pure arrogance, but how many of Rayner's cheer squad have actually eaten in the places he describes? I found him ludicrously dyspeptic.

Ok, he does pick out what for my Euro is the best Gm-19 a Paris, L'Astrance - but what is wrong with L'Arpege? The waiters at Grand Vefour are not snooty, and welcomed my young children with great warmth. The veal at Guy Savoy is not dull, though Savoy's style of cooking is quiet rather than blazingly incandescent.

Doesn't he know of all the fabulous 15GM places in Paris? Most of his readers would find Ze Kitchen Galerie more approachable than Grand Vefour or Ducasse. And Rayner would like the thin, intellectual clientele much more.

If you really want to eat the world, you might start with good bread. Rayner pays no attention to the basics, and hence comes over like a whiny toddler. If you really want to know about the great restos of France, don't buy this book, buy Gault-Millau.

As for Anton Ego here, it's time he ate some of vrai maman's ratatouille - that movie made all the same points with more elegance and wit than Rayner can muster. That said, he's very funny on the hideous empire of Ramsay and its bloated, lazy dominance of world food, and equally telling on Robuchon in Vegas - these just about justify the purchase price.

The underlying story of greed is of course enormously sad. The author should stop doing reviews until he feels real hunger again. When he can love food again, then he can guide the rest of us to the good stuff. As of now, he's so jaded as to be pretty nearly worthless to Joe Public.
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