IN RESTAURANTS

A photo shoot is not on the menu

In the space of a generation, phones have gone from being restaurant no-nos to restaurant essentials, placed face-down (or up, if you’re a high-ranking diplomat or something) to the right of the soup spoon. As a rule, pricier restaurants disapprove of mobile use for one obvious reason: their potential to spoil the ambience between dining companions and across the dining room. Over the years, a few establishments have attempted to put their foot down – and it’s not always the ones with Wedgwood tableware. Back in April, Debu-chan, a Tokyo ramen restaurant, banned mobile phones simply because diners were dawdling over them instead of eating their food, while impatient queues formed at the door.

It’s the capacity of the smartphone to take beautiful snaps of dishes for Instagram (smashed avocado on toast, anyone?) that has seen them accepted by most establishments as a net positive. ‘I was in a small, upmarket tasting menu restaurant recently, and there was a food blogger at the next table,’ says food writer Andy Lynes. ‘At every course, they got up and stood quite close to our table in order to take an artfully arranged shot of their food from a different angle. When I quietly mentioned it to the staff, rather than ask the blogger to be less intrusive, we were moved to another table, which indicated that they valued the potential publicity above the experience of the diner.’

While no one enjoys dining with a friend who suddenly fancies themselves an amateur food photographer (wait to eat? Really?), there are some starters, mains and desserts whose beauty deserves to be digitally preserved. Just please don’t stand on a chair to get that overhead shot. And maybe leave your tripod and light reflectors at home.