Should food porn be banned?

By Mariam Digges

Should food porn be banned?

A line I am guilty reciting in the company of friends and family is: “It hasn’t happened unless it’s on Instagram.” While in essence, this is a joke, there is some truth behind it; I’m playing up to a certain reputation that I have.

Hi, my name is Mariam and I’m a food snapperholic. And I’m not alone. The number of patrons who have taken to grabbing their smartphones – and in more serious blogger circles, SLR cameras – when their meal arrives in a restaurant is on the rise, and not everyone is happy about it.

While many restaurateurs still believe that any publicity is good publicity, especially the unbiased (and free) photos and captions of a consumer – some chefs aren’t so keen on the food porn movement. This week, one Michelin-starred French restaurant banned the use of phones at his establishment altogether.

“There’s a time and a place for everything,” said Alexandre Gauthier, chef at La Grenouilleree in the northern town of La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil.

“We are trying to give our clients a break in their lives. For that, you need to turn off your mobile.”

“People just won’t disconnect anymore,” he told Midi Libre newspaper.

If that wasn’t clear enough, a photo of a camera with a strike-through now features prominently on his menu.

Gauthier isn’t alone. Locally, New York chef David Chang has banned the use of flash cameras in his dimly-lit Sydney fine dining restaurant, Momofuku Seiobo.

It’s not just the risk of ‘ruining the moment’ that has chefs frazzled; while a good picture is the equivalent of PR gold, a bad one can be a kiss of death.

In a 2011 article in the Georgia Straight, Vancouver restaurateur Julio Gonzalez-Perini, owner and executive chef at Lupo Restaurant and Vinoteca, said: “The power they have on the Internet is amazing. They can ruin people’s livelihoods.”

Is our obsession with telling the world we are about to enjoy a delicious meal, via a lick-your-screen-good photo, impinging on the experience altogether? Or are we simply savouring the moment through yet another medium?

I am of the belief that a quick snap at the start of a meal is acceptable, but in the name of etiquette, it may be best to put the phone away after that. And for the more special occasions, leaving it at home altogether is probably best.

Especially if, like me, you can’t help yourself, once that steaming, gooey mound of self-saucing pud lands in front of you. Must. Be. Strong.

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