Attention Instagrammers: Some restaurants ban diners from taking photos of their food
Image from Shutterstock.
For those who document their daily lives on the Internet, food is no exception. But a proliferation of flash photos and distracting picture-takers (some even stand on their chairs to get a good angle on a dish) has prompted some high-end restaurants to adopt a no-photo rule.
Others, trying to strike a balance between accommodating patrons who want to send a photo of their plate by Instagram, Foodie SnapPak or Camera+ and respecting the rights of others who don’t want dining distractions, are taking a more nuanced approach to the issue. To reduce distractions, Chef David Bouley urges diners at his eponymous Manhattan restaurant to come into his kitchen and photograph their newly plated food there, and is working on setting up a computer system to send photos of their food to patrons while they are still eating, the New York Times (reg. req.) reports.
As grass-roots rules are developed to address what might literally be described as a consumer law issue, some photo-obsessed diners are still surprised to discover that such rules exist at all.
Jordy Trachtenberg, who says he documented every dish of ramen he ate for two years on his blog, Ramentology, was stunned to hear that some restaurants ban food photos, the Times reports.
“It’s shocking,” he told the newspaper. “Is that even legal?”
Hat tip: Mashable.
