The Great Man
When I heard Jay was coming to Newbury, the Emmenthal of towns, I was torn. I had attended one of his Guardian Masterclasses (very good by the way) and we had a debate on whether one should accept free food or not. Fundamentally I would like to think we agreed to sort of agree in that I am on a very limited budget so only like to review great food. If I am comped and the food is bad it doesn’t get reviewed. If I have paid and the food isnt good I am ok about saying so now. So he has influenced me but possibly not as much as his next tour, The Ten Commandments which is basically Do As I Say by Jay Rayner. Unmissable.
He was very kind to give up his time for an interview despite a rotten week for him with people abusing him on Twitter (and abusing his late mother which is even more reprehensible in my opinion). As I climbed the stairs I heard the most marvellous music coming from the piano in his dressing room, who knew he is also a jazz pianist? A very talented man. I had with me some Filipino food from Isidro’s Street Food in Newbury which they really wanted him to have, there was pork and chicken and he scarfed the whole lot while we talked although did make the point that it was about the only free food he had accepted in a very long time. Or rather he talked and I listened and cackled. I was surprised to see the only food in there was a bit of fruit, there were no pink swans or white candles, obviously a man of simple tastes. Indeed his favourite comfort food was …… do you know what, listen to the recording to find out!
Thank you Mr Rayner for putting up with me interrupting your time, for your careful consideration of my questions and for your obvious remorse although if you ever look at the whole interview about Emmenthal you will see that he doesn’t lambast Newbury.
The show itself was excellent, he was intelligent in an entertaining way whilst poking fun at himself. He bravely put up some crackingly horrific reviews of his work then laid into other peoples writings. All fantastic and well worth a visit.
http://kennetradio.com/site/food-and-drink/jay-rayner-says-sorry-to-newbury/
The Elephant in Market Square, Newbury
This was the disappointing part of the evening. To be fair possibly not helped that I was a bit nervous about interviewing Jay so kept asking Tony what the time was but even then, not so good.
A bruschetta with a lot of rocket but the mozzarella had done a runner, thinking its absence wouldn’t be noticed under the rocket mountain. To be fair they did take it off the cost but the whole thing was a soggy mess.
Ho hum, do you recognise that multi purpose bread holding the dry mackerel. Less said the better although maybe it is good they can be so creative with one loaf
I only bothered to photograph this half way through. I didnt mind the bony chicken, I quite like the work of taking the bits of chicken off and they did warn me. However the chips were so soggy they drooped in a very unmanly manner as I tried to coax them towards the tiny pot of coleslaw. I actually got bored and left the rest.
Had to put this in, these two Lib Dem activists met at the Corn Exchange with identical injuries from leaflet deliveries. Hubby Tony is on left, Paul Walter is on right. Sorry but hahahahahahahaha dont they do a basic delivery course when you start? I recommend not putting your fingers somewhere you arent sure it should be.
A horrendous picture of Jay and I, notice Jay wincing and to those that have asked NO we are not related!