Take this opening salvo that sets the scene for this restaurant’s
initial visit by Rayner and now consequent, imminent demise: It occupies the back room of a hotel for
businessmen, dreaming only of an in-house movie and a handful of tissues, and
feels like two hours of death by PowerPoint, presented by a lifestyle trends
consultant who once went to Hoxton.
Other gems within the overall demolition are these two, The least offensive of the main courses is
the crab, baked in the shell under a Cajun mayonnaise gunk. It looks like a
hefty sneeze into a shell, after a long swim in the sea to clear a cold;
and then this, a tube of breast and a
reformed leg, clumsily coated in bright orange crumbs the colour of the cast of
TOWIE.
Do get today’s paper and read this in full.
I’ve also taken the trouble to briefly comment on this today
as I have in the past used Jay Rayner’s review writing as a style model for A
level students’ own coursework writing in different registers and genres. Using
this, one of my students wrote her own praising restaurant review which was, in my
opinion, as linguistically rich and incisive and outstanding as anything Rayner
would write.
And this was his opinion too. I sent Jay Rayner a copy in
the hope that he might reply with a comment [a comment that could be used for
or added to the analytical commentary students wrote to accompany their creative
piece] and he did respond with a most detailed, totally gracious and
complimentary appreciation for which I will always be grateful. I even forgive
him for the fact he chastised me for misspelling his surname as Raynor.
I look forward to reading this when I read today's Observer. He rarely disappoints!
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