See it in
Hampsteadbefore it tours nationally.
Jay and the team at Fane are starting the national tour early — and Circle & Star goes first.
Jay Rayner brings a work-in-progress one-off to Circle & Star ahead of his national tour.
Marking the publication of his fabulous new cookbook, the restaurant critic and occasional pastry-wrangler brings twenty-five years of appetite to a room of 55 — a couple of hours of intense foodie insight, fabulous dinner ideas, and the occasional dodgy one too.
Three reasons to come: 55 seats with no bad ones; air conditioning, a genuine mercy this summer; and a roomful of people who care about being there.
All fifty-five have gone. There will be no further allocation and no seats will be released closer to the night. We are not able to resell or transfer tickets — but the mailing list hears about future nights first.
All fifty-five have gone.
Proximity theatre at its best — a chance to see these shows as works in progress, in a room of 55. All good seats. Brilliant company.
Thank you. If you have a ticket, we will see you on Tuesday 25 August.
Joni MitchellBlue
The story first, then the record end to end — ten songs that changed what a song could admit to. Lights low, phones away, fifty-five people listening together. Not a gig: a salon, where the album is the star of the evening.
See the Blue salon →Wit, raconteur & occasional pastry-wrangler.
Jay Rayner is one of Britain’s best-known food writers — now restaurant critic for the Financial Times, after twenty-five years reviewing for The Observer. He’s a familiar voice on BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet and the author of a shelfful of books, including the bestselling cookbook Nights Out at Home.
More recipes.
More stories.
“It’s time to share a little more of my love for home cooking, and the merry dance of appetite and technique that lies behind the dishes I make.”
Following his bestselling Nights Out at Home, Jay returns to the kitchen with recipes sparked by the dishes he’s fallen for over a quarter-century as a restaurant critic — meatballs with braised spaghetti, shaved fennel and lemon-zest salad, tartiflette tart, slow-cooked tandoori lamb shoulder — alongside twenty of his very own, refined at home.
There are home-cooked versions of dishes from the chefs who inspired them, a whole section on the joys of good things on toast, and stories that walk both sides of the ‘home’ and ‘away’ line: the problem with dinner parties, the route to a less painful Christmas lunch, and — given all those wretchedly negative reviews — whether Jay might actually be a total scumbag.
Every seat is close
With only 55 seats, everyone gets something close to a front-row experience — intimate, immediate, and part of the story.
Yes, there’s air conditioning
Which, in this weather, is practically a cultural service.
Good company
You’ll be among a small, curious community of people who care about live performance, conversation, and the thrill of being in the room.
Circle & Star Theatre
28 Heath Street, Hampstead, London NW3 6TE. Hampstead station, Northern line — thirty seconds from the door. Fifty-five seats — all good ones.
This one is closed. Hear about the next nights like it before the room fills.
Join the mailing list for future events →
Jay’s national tour is produced by the team at Fane — and we’re proud to give it its opening night, here in a room of 55.