I went for lunch with legendary food critic Jay Rayner — here's what I learned

Jay Rayner is a legendary restaurant critic, author, TV personality, and radio host, but he still has an appetite for more, writes Food editor Jillian Bolger

Restaurant critic Jay Rayner with Food editor Jillian Bolger in London. Pictures: Andrew Dunsmore

In London's Chinatown, on a street packed with restaurants, no one pays any attention to Jay Rayner. We stride down Gerrard Street in the midday sun, and enter a lively little Chinese joint called Four Seasons, which majors in duck. 

Rayner may be a regular, but no one seems to know who he is — neither staff nor diners — and, if they do, they don’t care. His review may be stuck on the wall, but the restaurant critic of the Observer for 25 years, and newly of the Financial Times, barely receives a second glance.