Restaurants Turn Camera Shy

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/dining/restaurants-turn-camera-shy.html?smid=pl-share

Restaurants Turn Camera Shy Reaction
Written By: Kelsey Carter

“Snap! Flash!” As a frequent customer of many different restaurants, it is almost impossible to make it through dinner service without hearing or seeing the actions of a photo being taken as freshly prepared food makes its way to the table. Everyone is guilty of it. Maybe it was the first time a customer ordered that strange appetizer of pigs ears and needed to send it to a friend. Or, maybe a customer wants to appreciate the expensive dinner he or she is about to pay for by taking the time to take photos. It could also be like me, the traveler, who takes photos of every meal eaten in a new place for memory and scrapbooking. Whatever the reason, food is on the pedestal in full frontal nudity for anyone to come click photos away.

            According to the article “Restaurants Turn Camera Shy” that was posted in The New York Times on Wednesday January 23, There are many different opinions in the foodservice industry when it comes to amateur food photography. “Chef David Chang is one of several chefs who either prohibit food photography (at Ko in New York) or have a policy against flashes (at Seiobo in Sydney, Australia, and Shoto in Toronto).”   Other Chefs stated that photography of food became too distracting in small seat capacity restaurants, and that is why it is banned. It is an understanding why some have chosen to ban photography in restaurants. An evening out to the new restaurant on the block is supposed to be an individual experience filled with many different emotions evoked by the restaurants staff, ambiance, and food. When a light show of flash photography is illuminating the dim lighted fine dining restaurant, it causes a leach of someone else’s restaurant experience to interfere with another’s.

            On the contrary, there are other chefs who quite enjoy the act of patrons taking photos of his or her food. It is considered an honor for the customer wants to remember the dish forever. It is also word of mouth advertising because of what the customer does with the photo like sending it to friends, posting it on websites like Facebook or instagram, or the customer is an avid blogger who is going to write a wonderful piece on the meal he or she just had.

            As a self-proclaimed foodie and future restaurateur, I am constantly taking photos of plates and drinks that I order. I upload photos to Facebook, and in the moment I order something weird like salty lemonade, tripe and tendon, cockroaches and live baby squid, I always have a friend snap a photo of me bringing it to my mouth with a thumb up for my mother and personal blog. However, I take the time and courtesy to always ask my server if photos are allowed in restaurants. For example, there are some restaurants like Brennans in New Orleans which encourage showmanship and photography especially of the famous Bananas Foster. Other restaurants like Tujagues also in New Orleans is so small on the inside that flash photography is not allowed, but you may still try to get a dim lit photo. If I had my own restaurant, at this moment I do not know if I would or would not allow photography. It is determined by too many variables of restaurant size and style. Or maybe by the time I have a restaurant, the photography fad will have passed and a new interest will arise on the internet.