Once I booked my flights to London, I knew what I had to do: check if there were any shows in the city I wanted to see. While on this hunt, I thankfully remembered to check if Jay Rayner had any shows on during my trip. I got lucky, there was a ‘Ten Food Commandments’ show on September 11 – the day I landed in London. I knew I’d most likely be jet-lagged that evening but there were no other shows during my trip, so I bit the bullet and bought a ticket.
Right, so I haven’t read the book on which the performance is based but I knew that whatever the show would end up being, I would be treated to a heavy dose of tongue-in-cheek and witty observations. Thankfully, I wasn’t wrong.
I headed off to The Crazy Coqs, which is located within Brasserie Zedel, just off the Piccadilly Circus station. Guests were queuing up in this basement-level foyer, which had some stunning murals and architecture. I looked it up while writing this post, and found out that the building, now restored, is a loyal retelling of its original 1930s Art Deco style. The room which houses the Crazy Coqs used to be the billiard room, and, according to the official website, has been restored faithfully.
Now – on the show! Once we were admitted to the intimate round venue, all clustered around a mini stage at one end, the show began when Rayner appeared in his Moses outfit…
The show started at 9.15pm and ended at 10.45pm, which included a 10 minute break. The first part of the show concentrated on the ten (food) commandments, peppered with interesting anecdotes that played into those commandments, as well as some brilliant jokes. After a 10-minute interval, before which he encouraged the crowd to tweet him with food commandments of their own, he returned and started reading those tweets and interacting with the tweeters and sharing his opinions. After that was an open Q&A, and then he stayed behind to sell and sign his books.
If you’re interested in the culture of food, and enjoy reading his restaurant reviews every week – this is definitely a good show to catch.
Let me leave you with one of my favourite quotes of the night: “People don’t go to restaurants to stave off rickets. People go to restaurants to collect memories.”
Devina Divecha's Journals 