No phones in restaurants. But how will people know I’ve eaten there?
It’s a scary thought, isn’t it? But there is a growing movement amongst operators to discourage people from taking countless photos and videos of their food (we hold our hands up to this) and rather just enjoy the experience.
This is a brave new world. What places are we talking about?
The types of venues where photography is either discouraged or banned outright varies, with some being super exclusive but others less so. The practice of banning photos has long been enforced in private members clubs, including Soho House and Annabel’s, which both state that posting photos on social media is forbidden in order to protect the privacy of their members, but the new wave of places banning photos appear to be doing it for different reasons.
Such as what?
Primarily in an attempt to retain a semblance of old-fashioned mystique, harking back to a time when everyone’s movements weren’t documented on social media for all to ogle at. While it’s undeniable that social media has had a hugely positive impact on the restaurant scene, it has taken away some of the surprise and magic of visiting a place for the first time and not quite knowing what to expect. London members club Maison Estelle, for example, not only bans photography inside its Mayfair townhouse but no imagery of the club is circulated (the website features some watercolour drawings of some of its spaces) so that it remains an enigma to all of those unable to cross its threshold. The company takes a similar stance at its Oxfordshire retreat Estelle Manor but is less secretive about the property (it has an Instagram account for a start). The same approach is taken at the subterranean The Spy Bar within The OWO hotel in Westminster, which is housed in rooms once used by MI5. The bar is home to a wall-mounted Aston Martin DB5 used in the film No Time to Die, but if we told you that we’d have to kill you. Guests are required to place a sticker that reads ‘for your eyes only’ over their phone camera so no photos of its Vesper Martini can be leaked onto the internet. As the bar says itself: ‘it’s classified.’
What about places that are less secretive?
Banning photos might not just be about retaining an air of mystery. For some operators the practice of people continually taking photos at a time when they should be eating and conversing is a bit of a vibe killer, especially when they have gone to great lengths to create a specific atmosphere (see also enforcing a dress code). Newly opened Italian American restaurant Louis in Manchester enforces a strict no photography, no videography and no social media policy for discretion purposes (it has posted images of interiors online), but one can’t help feel it’s also to ensure it attracts the right crowd of people who want to live in the moment rather than online. This is likely to also be the case with London restaurant The Tent, where photos are also forbidden, and is certainly the reason behind new Manchester nightclub Amber’s decision to do the same with Amber’s director Jeremy Abbott telling the BBC the club made the decision because “we really want the music and the experience to be front and centre”.
Don’t they want the free publicity of social media then?
Apparently not. It’s worth noting that this isn’t a new phenomenon – some restaurants took the decision to ban photography in their restaurants years ago, including three Michelin-starred The Waterside Inn, which introduced the practice back in 2017. This followed French chefs Gilles Goujon and Alexandre Gauthier who, back in 2014, rallied against the notion of ‘food porn’ by requesting guests not photograph their dishes. However, with the rise of picture and video-focused social media sites such as Instagram and TikTok, where everything from jacket potato stands to ice cream parlours can create mass hysteria online, and where there’s something to be said for distancing yourself from the noise, the ‘no photo’ policy is going a bit more mainstream. Don’t be surprised if other places follow suit.