Jay Rayner originally studied politics at Leeds University, but his love for journalism wasn’t far away as he was the editor of the student newspaper. In 1992, he was named Young Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards, and has been nominated for a number of other prestigious awards since, including as the Food and Drink Writer for three years in a row.
Other awards include:
– Critic of the Year (2006, 2023, 2025): won
– Restaurant Critic of the Year (2001): won
– Derek Cooper Award for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism (2013): won
– Restaurant Writer of the Year at the Fortnum and Mason Food and Drink Awards (2018): won
– 3x Glenfiddich Good and Drink Awards: nominated
Jay Rayner | TV and Radio
As a food critic, Jay has judged on MasterChef, The Great British Waste Menu and Top Chef Masters in the USA. He has also appeared as a judge on MasterChef (2007-present), and as part of the panel on BBC2’s Eating With the Enemy. He has also hosted two editions of Dispatches for Channel 4, and was the resident food pundit for The One Show (2009-16).
On the radio, Jay Rayner leads the BBC Radio 4 food panel show, The Kitchen Cabinet and was nominated for two Sony Radio Awards and a Sony Gold award for his contributions to the radio show, Papertalk, a programme that reflects upon the British newspaper industry.
In 2019, he launched the Out to Lunch podcast, in which he interviews the famous and infamous over a restaurant meal. It ran until 2022 by which time recorded over eight million listens and become a fixture in the UK podcast top 100. Guests included Philippa Perry, Paloma Faith, Dara O’Briain, Sara Pascoe, Tim Minchin, David Lammy, James May, Jo Brand, and Richard Osman, among many more.
He has also guest starred on The Weakest Link (2008; 2022), Celebrity Mastermind (2011; 2024), and Christmas University Challenge (2012; 2025).
His broadcasting work as a presenter for the BBC has brought him two Sony radio award nominations and a Sony gold, as anchor of Papertalk, a programme about the British newspaper business. He has also been nominated in the Commission for Racial Equality’s Race in the Media Awards, for his reporting of race crime in Britain, and for the Mental Health Media awards, for his work on mental health issues.
Jay Rayner | Writer
Jay is also a regular contributor to the Guardian and the Observer and has articles published in Granta, Esquire, GQ, and Cosmopolitan as well as Gourmet and Saveur in America.
He is the author of both novels and works of non-fiction, including:
Fiction:
– The Marble Kiss(1994): nominated for the Author’s Club of Great Britain First Novel Award
– Day of Atonement(1998; 2015)
– Star Dust Falling(2003)
– The Apologist(2004)
– Eating Crow(2004)
– The Oyster House Siege(2007)
Non-Fiction:
– The Man Who Ate the World(2009)
– A Greedy Man in a Hungry World(2013)
– My Dining Hell(2015)
– The Ten Food Commandments(2016)
– Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights(2018)
– My Last Supper(2019)
– Chewing the Fat(2021)
– Nights Out at Home(2024): became a Sunday Times bestseller.
– Nights Out in the Kitchen(2026)
Jay Rayner | Speaker
Jay is now a highly sought-after and fascinating keynote speaker. With an eclectic carer that spans TV, radio and printed journalism, and over half a million social media followers , Jay has the experience and expertise to ensure a fantastic occasion as a cookery speaker.
