Click, Flash! Do smartphones ruin the dining atmosphere?

1 min read

There’s been a fair bit of talk lately about when it’s appropriate to use the camera on your smartphone. Whether it’s Kate Bush requesting in advance that you don’t take a snap at her forthcoming series of concerts, this band not wanting you to ‘harsh their mellow’ or restaurants complaining that taking photos of your food not only ruins the ambiance but it’s time consuming too.
Some pretty generous estimations say that it takes 3 minutes to take a photo of your food. And the problem with this? Well, the figures quoted say that 9 out of 45 asked the waiter to reheat the food because they had left it sitting too long and there’s also the implication that time spent posturing for photos gives the restaurant less time to turn the table again that night.
Those who are pro-insta-food-photo would argue that it’s a great way of showing off what the restaurant are producing in their kitchen. In the majority of cases diners are taking photos of their food because they are impressed and want to share what a great meal they are having.
What side of the fence do you sit on? Do you want all and sundry to see a picture of your lobster ravioli or do you employ a strict ‘phones in the middle of the table‘ policy?