The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner [Paperback]

Jay Rayner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 2009

“A hilarious and insightful journey into the world of restaurant meals.”—Mario Batali

"Nobody goes to restaurants for nutritional reasons. They go for the experience. And what price a really top experience?”

What price indeed? Fearlessly, and with great wit and verve, award-winning restaurant critic Jay Rayner goes in search of the perfect meal. From the Tokyo sushi chef who offers a toast of snake-infused liquor to close a spectacular meal, to Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas where Robuchon himself eagerly watches his guest’s every mouthful, to seven three-star Michelin restaurants in seven days in Paris, Rayner conducts a whirlwind tour of high-end gastronomy that will thrill the heart—and stomach—of any armchair gourmand. Along the way, he uses his entrée into the restaurant world to probe the larger issues behind the globalization of dinner.

Riotously funny and shrewdly observed, The Man Who Ate the World is a fascinating look at the business and pleasure of fine dining.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Rayner lives out every foodie’s fantasy: to dine in the world’s best restaurants, wolfing down master chefs’ most prized products, quaffing the finest vintages, ordering the rarest and most expensive dishes menus can offer, luxuriating in sumptuous surroundings as staff hover solicitously. A London restaurant critic, Rayner documents the capital’s ascent from the culinary embarrassment of fish-and-chips to enthronement as one of the world’s gastronomic destinations. He jets to arid Las Vegas, where he finds just how eagerly chefs violate the currently sacred mantra of locally produced ingredients for the golden opportunity to grab tourist dollars. He finds similar intersections of greed and gluttony in Dubai and Moscow, where expense tends to measure quality. He caps his worldwide quest with a week of unabashed overeating in Paris, visiting both new and classic celebrated Parisian restaurants till even his estimable constitution buckles under the caloric load. --Mark Knoblauch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Jay’s massive appetite for luxury items and his spectacular understanding of food, chefs, and dining combine to make this a hilarious and insightful journey into the world of restaurant meals. I may have been the bad seed at the root of this journey, but I take no credit whatsoever for his final realizations. I do wish he had invited me along though, for the great meals, for some sense of chef perspective, and to savor a couple of bottles of vintage Krug.”—Mario Batali

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; First Edition edition (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805090231
• ISBN-13: 978-0805090239
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #334,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars When at Katz's Deli get the tongue, August 18, 2008

By 

Valerie Usowski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner (Hardcover)

I was so pysched when I read the 'Warning' (urging the reader to get a snack beforehand or suffer through hunger pains)that I actually grabbed a banana and settled into my couch for a long read. I happily read the first chapter about having a 'proper dinner' and wondered where in Upstate NY I could actually get a decent app of escargot. Still intrigued I read on. Las Vegas. Really? I know, a blossoming culinary mecca. The only things blossoming there are the busoms of the waitresses. I read on and slowly lost patience. Blah, blah truffle, blah, caviar, blah, freebies, blah, name dropping. I wanted to get into it, but just couldn't. I would recommend 'Garlic and Sapphires' by Ruth Reichl instead.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hide your credit cards. Then read this book., July 15, 2008

By 

Genene Murphy (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner (Hardcover)

While reading this book, avoid Expedia and Orbitz or any deep-seated desires to taste Toyko or tour New York City. Stay far, far away from wine auctions and think twice about booking reservations at restaurants that issue fraud alerts. Because after reading Rayner's adventures and quest for the perfect meal, you'll want to spend a lot of money for your next travel/foodie fix.

With each chapter--and arrival in another city--you may crave exotic food and culinary adventure and more of Rayner's writing. He gives words life. His arrogant, yet charming tone reminds of that guy at that bar that you'd like to call your friend or uncle. I distinctly remember reading in bed and yet also sitting next to Rayner, getting sick in a cab or throwing envious glances to investment bankers wasting a $5000 bottle of wine just because they could. You may taste the sea. Or smell grapes. You may also feel your heart race when he describes what happens in France. And you'll definately experience Dubai in ways that this month's travel magazine can't describe. (His description called to mind the book, A Fine Balance.)

Soon after reading and loaning this book, I craved really good sushi. I checked the balance on our Visa, closed my eyes ... and Rayner was right. I could taste the sea. Read this now if you need a vacation or a gluttonous night out in town. The experience is free.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious and Mouth-watering, April 3, 2011

By 

The Dougger (NYC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner (Paperback)

Jay Rayner is a food critic from the UK but more recently has been a judge on Top Chef Masters. His spot on that show doesn't do justice to his snarling wit, world-class knowledge of restaurants and chefs, or his abiding love for even the simplest ingredients. THE MAN WHO ATE THE WORLD is a luxury dining tour of New York, Las Vegas, London, Moscow, Dubai, Tokyo, and Paris in which Rayner searches for the perfect meal in the most famous restaurants and the most getting-lost-on-the-back-streets-of-Tokyo holes in the wall, as long as they've been promised to serve something incomparably delicious. But it's not just about the food. It's the atmosphere, the history of the chef and the space, the sourcing of the ingredients (a trip to the docks in Tokyo hunting for the perfect tuna), and even some talk of globalization thrown in (why does one chef insist on flying his lobsters from Brittany, France to Las Vegas, when the coast of Maine is so much nearer by?). Still, the food, and Rayner's rip-roaring sense of humor do take center stage. Everyone will have a favorite chapter and dish but the entire book is a sustained love letter to haute cuisine written by a regular chap with a big appetite and a sophisticated palate. I wish Rayner had a companion show on the Travel Channel where he could spend a season taking us to all the restaurants in this books!