Jay Rayner
@jayrayner1.bsky.social
Eats and writes for The Financial Times. Piano for the JR Sextet; chairs Kitchen Cabinet for R4. Doesn’t accept comps. jay.rayner@ft.com
https://linktr.ee/jayrayner1
https://linktr.ee/jayrayner1
Pinned
Jay Rayner
@jayrayner1.bsky.social
· Dec 5
A huge thank you to Delicious Mag and @markdiacono.bsky.social for declaring Nights Out At Home storytelling cookbook of the year. You’ll find links to buy via the LinkTree in my bio and here’s the link to Delicious Mag’s top 25 cookbooks of the year
www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/the-25-best-...
www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/the-25-best-...
Amused by the number of people who seem surprised that two restaurant critics, working for entirely different newspapers and therefore not sharing information in any way, should somehow have reviewed the same high profile opening. It’s a mystery.
November 9, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Amused by the number of people who seem surprised that two restaurant critics, working for entirely different newspapers and therefore not sharing information in any way, should somehow have reviewed the same high profile opening. It’s a mystery.
Sunday Nov 16 the JR Sextet are playing @pizzaexpresslive Holborn. We’re getting a little free with our 80s jazz thing. We have a new Matt Bianco tune, but we’re also hopping back to the 70s (just) and forward to the noughties. Do Join us. Ticket link below.
www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/jaz...
www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/jaz...
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Sunday Nov 16 the JR Sextet are playing @pizzaexpresslive Holborn. We’re getting a little free with our 80s jazz thing. We have a new Matt Bianco tune, but we’re also hopping back to the 70s (just) and forward to the noughties. Do Join us. Ticket link below.
www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/jaz...
www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/jaz...
For today’s @ftweekend.com I’m at Lillibet’s, which is ‘Camp, chaotic, Queen-themed . . . and potentially very good’. Certainly, if you were thinking of redecorating with floral prints give it up. There aren’t any left. They’re all in Lillibet’s.
on.ft.com/43mEsnL
on.ft.com/43mEsnL
‘Camp, chaotic, Queen-themed . . . and potentially very good — Jay Rayner reviews Lilibet’s, Mayfair’
This silly, spendy seafood restaurant has the potential to be an awful lot of fun
on.ft.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:02 AM
For today’s @ftweekend.com I’m at Lillibet’s, which is ‘Camp, chaotic, Queen-themed . . . and potentially very good’. Certainly, if you were thinking of redecorating with floral prints give it up. There aren’t any left. They’re all in Lillibet’s.
on.ft.com/43mEsnL
on.ft.com/43mEsnL
It is delightful that my podcast Out To Lunch has found a new audience on BBC Sounds. But as a service to all those agents who can't be bothered to do any research, and there are many, I stopped recording it three years ago. So no, I would not like to feature your celebrity nutritionist client.
November 5, 2025 at 4:13 PM
It is delightful that my podcast Out To Lunch has found a new audience on BBC Sounds. But as a service to all those agents who can't be bothered to do any research, and there are many, I stopped recording it three years ago. So no, I would not like to feature your celebrity nutritionist client.
Hampstead is to get a new pub theatre in the shape of the Circle & Star (formerly Pentametres), led by the magnificent @stevefurst.bsky.social. To support its (re)birth I'm doing an event there with Steve on Jan 22. Some chat. Some music. Hope you can join us.
www.tickettailor.com/events/circl...
www.tickettailor.com/events/circl...
Buy tickets – JAY RAYNER — NOTES, TASTES & STORIES – The Circle and Star Theatre
JAY RAYNER — NOTES, TASTES & STORIES – The Circle and Star Theatre, Thu 22 Jan 2026 - Restaurant critic, writer, broadcaster, and jazz pianist — Jay Rayner brings words, wit and music to Circle & ...
www.tickettailor.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Hampstead is to get a new pub theatre in the shape of the Circle & Star (formerly Pentametres), led by the magnificent @stevefurst.bsky.social. To support its (re)birth I'm doing an event there with Steve on Jan 22. Some chat. Some music. Hope you can join us.
www.tickettailor.com/events/circl...
www.tickettailor.com/events/circl...
I supect we'll be in for some quite contrasting obituaries with this one. Because there are 'other things'.
Sorry to learn, via Tariq Ali, that a veteran of the British left Richard Gott died this morning (1938-2025). Gott was the person who identified Che Guevara's body after he was murdered by Bolivian forces in 1967. He later went on to be Features Editor of the Guardian amongst other things
November 2, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I supect we'll be in for some quite contrasting obituaries with this one. Because there are 'other things'.
The Jr Sextet’s December show is basically sold out but there are tickets for our November show at pizza express Holborn. We’ve added a bunch of new tunes including this version of Herbie Mann’s Right Now (covered by the creatures in the 80s).
www.jayrayner.co.uk/shows
www.jayrayner.co.uk/shows
November 1, 2025 at 8:47 AM
The Jr Sextet’s December show is basically sold out but there are tickets for our November show at pizza express Holborn. We’ve added a bunch of new tunes including this version of Herbie Mann’s Right Now (covered by the creatures in the 80s).
www.jayrayner.co.uk/shows
www.jayrayner.co.uk/shows
Today’s @ftweekend.com finds me at Starling in Esher and very happy I am about it too. Nick Beardshaw’s dishes are full of whizz bang flavours, and the room buzzes with happy chatter. One of my picks of the year.
on.ft.com/4nCIpfs
on.ft.com/4nCIpfs
‘One of my picks of the year’ — Jay Rayner reviews Starling in Surrey
‘Great British Menu’ winner Nick Beardshaw has created that rare thing: a restaurant that gets everything right
on.ft.com
November 1, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Today’s @ftweekend.com finds me at Starling in Esher and very happy I am about it too. Nick Beardshaw’s dishes are full of whizz bang flavours, and the room buzzes with happy chatter. One of my picks of the year.
on.ft.com/4nCIpfs
on.ft.com/4nCIpfs
I’ve done some book reviewing. Restaurants, name dropping and backstabbing. All life is there.
This is the most fun thing you can read today: @jayrayner1.bsky.social on the memoirs of three very different restaurateurs. Gift link free for 300 clicks on.ft.com/4qx0yhn
It’s not about the food — the secret of a great restaurant
[FREE TO READ] Is entrepreneurship plus celebrity the recipe for success? Jay Rayner on restaurateurs’ memoirs, from The Ivy’s Jeremy King to Drew Nieporent’s venture with Robert De Niro
on.ft.com
October 29, 2025 at 10:23 AM
I’ve done some book reviewing. Restaurants, name dropping and backstabbing. All life is there.
For today’s @ftweekend.com I’m at two new specialist Japanese places: Katsuro, which serves really good Katsu, made with fresh breadcrumbs, and Hinaga for sweet snowy shaved ice peaks of kakigori.
on.ft.com/475H5N6
on.ft.com/475H5N6
It takes two specialist Japanese restaurants – Jay Rayner reviews Katsuro and Hinaga, London
First a proper katsu then a venue change for afters
on.ft.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:18 AM
For today’s @ftweekend.com I’m at two new specialist Japanese places: Katsuro, which serves really good Katsu, made with fresh breadcrumbs, and Hinaga for sweet snowy shaved ice peaks of kakigori.
on.ft.com/475H5N6
on.ft.com/475H5N6
Watching call my
Bluff followed by Face the music two thoughts occur a) the comb over was very much a thing in the 70s and b) Jilly cooper and David Attenborough where both dreamboats.
Bluff followed by Face the music two thoughts occur a) the comb over was very much a thing in the 70s and b) Jilly cooper and David Attenborough where both dreamboats.
October 20, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Watching call my
Bluff followed by Face the music two thoughts occur a) the comb over was very much a thing in the 70s and b) Jilly cooper and David Attenborough where both dreamboats.
Bluff followed by Face the music two thoughts occur a) the comb over was very much a thing in the 70s and b) Jilly cooper and David Attenborough where both dreamboats.
Got to hand it to the Paris museum jewel thieves. They found exactly what they're looking for. That's a serious achievment at the Louvre.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Louvre museum robbery: how the thieves broke in, what they stole and what happens next
French culture ministry says eight pieces were stolen – but crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, was dropped by the fleeing thieves
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Got to hand it to the Paris museum jewel thieves. They found exactly what they're looking for. That's a serious achievment at the Louvre.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
A while back I was approached by the govt of Saudi Arabia to write a restaurant guide to the country. Unlike various comedians, I did not want to take the money of a govt with one of the worst human rights records in the world. Michelin thought otherwise.
guide.michelin.com/en/food-and-...
guide.michelin.com/en/food-and-...
The MICHELIN Guide Saudi Arabia: Newly Selected Restaurants
The first selection of the MICHELIN Guide Saudi Arabia is out now! Discover all the new restaurants, get a glimpse into Saudi’s culinary heritage through its ...
guide.michelin.com
October 18, 2025 at 10:44 AM
A while back I was approached by the govt of Saudi Arabia to write a restaurant guide to the country. Unlike various comedians, I did not want to take the money of a govt with one of the worst human rights records in the world. Michelin thought otherwise.
guide.michelin.com/en/food-and-...
guide.michelin.com/en/food-and-...
For the week’s @ftweekend.com I went to Brasserie Constance, a new venture overseen by chef Adam Byatt offering a wonderfully unchallenging menu of extremely well executed classics and comfort food. If you can find your way into the development at fulham FC stadium.
on.ft.com/4qvMEfw
on.ft.com/4qvMEfw
A reassuringly good Anglo-French neighbourhood restaurant — Jay Rayner reviews Brasserie Constance, Fulham
Hidden within Fulham FC is a dining experience overseen by chef Adam Byatt
on.ft.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
For the week’s @ftweekend.com I went to Brasserie Constance, a new venture overseen by chef Adam Byatt offering a wonderfully unchallenging menu of extremely well executed classics and comfort food. If you can find your way into the development at fulham FC stadium.
on.ft.com/4qvMEfw
on.ft.com/4qvMEfw
Damn and blast. Helen Lewis has written the piece of the year: a reported account of the Riyadh Comedy Festival which gently becomes an acute analysis of how the US is turning into Saudi Arabia and vice versa. It’s brilliantly funny, razor sharp and damn clever. Read it.
October 16, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Damn and blast. Helen Lewis has written the piece of the year: a reported account of the Riyadh Comedy Festival which gently becomes an acute analysis of how the US is turning into Saudi Arabia and vice versa. It’s brilliantly funny, razor sharp and damn clever. Read it.
TONIGHT. Yes, I’m shouting.
The end is nigh. On Thurs night I’m @ilkleylitfest performing my Nights Out At Home show for the last time. It’s going to be REAL. And certainly fun. Looking online I can see there are a couple of rows left at the back of the stalls.
ilkleyliteraturefestival-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
ilkleyliteraturefestival-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
October 16, 2025 at 11:35 AM
TONIGHT. Yes, I’m shouting.
Ah a new recruit.
“But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”
October 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Ah a new recruit.
The end is nigh. On Thurs night I’m @ilkleylitfest performing my Nights Out At Home show for the last time. It’s going to be REAL. And certainly fun. Looking online I can see there are a couple of rows left at the back of the stalls.
ilkleyliteraturefestival-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
ilkleyliteraturefestival-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
October 14, 2025 at 5:29 PM
The end is nigh. On Thurs night I’m @ilkleylitfest performing my Nights Out At Home show for the last time. It’s going to be REAL. And certainly fun. Looking online I can see there are a couple of rows left at the back of the stalls.
ilkleyliteraturefestival-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
ilkleyliteraturefestival-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
I've just been approached about an influencers campaign which could earn me "up to $50". My cup runneth over.
October 14, 2025 at 8:06 AM
I've just been approached about an influencers campaign which could earn me "up to $50". My cup runneth over.
Perennially baffling media phenomenon: when you’ve just published 2500 words on a subject, and PRs pile in suggesting interviews with their clients. On the same subject because obviously you’re immediately going to write about the sam subject all over again.
October 13, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Perennially baffling media phenomenon: when you’ve just published 2500 words on a subject, and PRs pile in suggesting interviews with their clients. On the same subject because obviously you’re immediately going to write about the sam subject all over again.
And as ever in @ftweekend.com my restaurant review: I went to Legardo, the new one from Spanish chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho, ate the delicious three week old roast suckling pig and then disappeared down a philosophical rabbit hole about the morality of doing so.
on.ft.com/3VWOnwj
on.ft.com/3VWOnwj
‘Sublime, transcendent . . . and morally complex?’ Jay Rayner reviews Legado, Shoreditch
Beautiful suckling pig served with a side of existential crisis
on.ft.com
October 11, 2025 at 7:23 AM
And as ever in @ftweekend.com my restaurant review: I went to Legardo, the new one from Spanish chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho, ate the delicious three week old roast suckling pig and then disappeared down a philosophical rabbit hole about the morality of doing so.
on.ft.com/3VWOnwj
on.ft.com/3VWOnwj
For the past few months, for the @ftweekend.com essay, I’ve been digging deep into the phenomenon of premium restaurant brands going global: the risks, the benefits, the way almost all of them end up serving takes on the same ingredients.
on.ft.com/3KS1Enr How high-end restaurants went global
on.ft.com/3KS1Enr How high-end restaurants went global
How high-end restaurants went global
As a new generation sets out in the footsteps of Nobu and Zuma, Jay Rayner examines the rise of ‘luxe’ food chains — and whether it has come at a cost
on.ft.com
October 11, 2025 at 7:16 AM
For the past few months, for the @ftweekend.com essay, I’ve been digging deep into the phenomenon of premium restaurant brands going global: the risks, the benefits, the way almost all of them end up serving takes on the same ingredients.
on.ft.com/3KS1Enr How high-end restaurants went global
on.ft.com/3KS1Enr How high-end restaurants went global
In other news Charlie Redmayne, the long serving CEO of HC in the UK, resigned yesterday.
October 9, 2025 at 8:31 AM
In other news Charlie Redmayne, the long serving CEO of HC in the UK, resigned yesterday.
Season four of The Morning Show has really gone a bit Stenders. Enjoying it, but I keep hearing the drum break at the credits.
October 8, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Season four of The Morning Show has really gone a bit Stenders. Enjoying it, but I keep hearing the drum break at the credits.