Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

I really liked this book for the first couple chapters, then I felt like I was reading them again for the remainder of the book.

Jay Rayner, I have to say, strikes one as a very unlikely sort of food critic. In the photograph on the cover of my copy of his book, he has a distinctly 'mad-monk' sort of appearance that is almost a bit scary. One might, on seeing him in a restaurant, for example, take him for a professional wrestler on a night off, rather than the respected food writer he actually is.

Normally, I would never make references to an authors physical appearance in a literary review but I do so here because I think that the disparity in Mr Rayner's outward appearance and his actual work is pleasantly reflected in the style his writing. All too often, food writers take themselves too seriously and the result is an unfortunate pretentiousness. Rayner, on the other hand is very down-to-earth, with a salty irreverence that makes this particular book so eminently readable. He makes one laugh at the same time he makes one think.

This book is a somewhat philosophical look at what constitutes good food but Mr Rayner approaches the philosophy without preaching or pontificating. Rather, he seems to be mulling his ideas over as he shares them and the result is very engaging. In particular, he several times refers to some varieties of food writing as 'food porn' and I found the notion very interesting and, well .... 'food' for future thought.

The only negative criticism I might make of this book is that it is a bit unstructured, almost to the point of being haphazard in some ways, but I can't say that this detracted from my enjoyment of it as a whole. Mr Rayner's sometimes self-deprecating humor makes the end result a genuinely witty and insightful pleasure.

Author Jay Rayner searches the world for the perfect meal, traveling to places around the globe, meeting master chefs, and eating exotic foods. His memoir includes interviews with famous chefs, restaurateurs and eaters, and provides a lively blend of food culture and food history perfect for general-interest libraries strong in food history and culture.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The book was a good read, but it takes a while to get started. Some parts just put me to sleep. I was really expecting more.

This is what I love about amazon. 5 reviews for a tv personality who is an &$@ on tv....5 reviews!

Money saved.