French Chefs ban people taking pics of their food
French Chefs ban people taking pics of their food
Author
Discussion

KFC

Original Poster:

3,687 posts

159 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewher...

BBC said:
Two Michelin-starred French chefs are cracking down on customers who take photographs of their food, it's been reported.

Gilles Goujon, who runs the three-starred L'Auberge du vieux puits restaurant in Fontjoncouse in southern France, says it is poor etiquette to take photos of food, and more importantly, every time his creations appear on social networks it "takes away the surprise, and a little bit of my intellectual property", news website France TV Info reports.

Another chef, Alexandre Gauthier of the Grenouillere restaurant in the northern French town of La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil, has gone as far as to add a "no cameras" logo to his menu - although photography isn't strictly banned there.

Gauthier lamented the fact that customers now take pictures of the food rather than the people they are dining with. "Before, they were pictures of family, grandmother, and now we take pictures of food… We tweet, we like, we respond to comments, and the dish is cold."

But not all fine dining establishments take the same view - some have even been known to offer food photography courses.
imo the only people who should be taking photos of food in decent restaurants are children and people who're going to write a restaurant review (and I'm not counting a pic on the 'show us your dinner' thread on pistonheads there laugh). Anyone using a flash camera should be banned for life.

I was in a restaurant the other night and there was a table of 10 elderly German ladies. 4 of them are out with flash cameras taking pictures of absolutely everything that arrived at the table. It was annoying (and I could see other diners were annoyed too). They were really taking the piss. Even although I was annoyed, it was almost embarrassing watching them make idiots of themselves. The waiters didn't care, or tell them to stop etc. This wasn't an expensive restaurant - 21 euros for 4 courses for me.

So taking pics in restaurants, yes or no?

Bullett

11,171 posts

213 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
I do occasionally, but I prefer to enjoy the meal. It's only if something is exceptional or I've not seen it before that I take picture.
For example I was at Heston's Dinner before xmas. I took a photo of the tipsy cake because everyone I had spoken to said try it. So I shared that I was trying it. That's the stand of food I'd be photographing.
I'd not use flash or be clicking every dish.

mattdaniels

7,362 posts

311 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
You pay lots of money to go and see and hear the creative output of a director (ie. theatre), and you are not allowed to record the occasion due to house rules.

You pay lots of money to go and see and taste the creative output of a chef (ie. restaurant), and people are up in arms if the establishment applies the equivalent house rules.

scratchchin

Pferdestarke

7,192 posts

216 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
No flash. Quick. Discreet. Phone away in between.

No problem.

Some Gump

13,018 posts

215 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
fking hell, chefs really get up their own arses sometimes. It's a resteraunt. A night out. People take photos. If they photo the food beause it looks good, that is a complement. Take it as that, don't think of it as intulectual property. The fact that the diners paid their bill means that the food ceased to be your property, you sold it to someone who was hungry. What they do with their property is up to them.

Agrilla

834 posts

212 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
No, it is poor etiquette, and diners should keep their telephone in their pocket/bag/car and not at the table.

I don't know why, but it seems disrespectful to the person you're dining with.


citizensm1th

8,371 posts

166 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
How very gauche taking pictures of ones food, I presume it is so one can lord it over one's poorer acquaintance's who cant afford to eat in decent restaurants?.

KFC

Original Poster:

3,687 posts

159 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
Some Gump said:
fking hell, chefs really get up their own arses sometimes. It's a resteraunt. A night out. People take photos. If they photo the food beause it looks good, that is a complement. Take it as that, don't think of it as intulectual property. The fact that the diners paid their bill means that the food ceased to be your property, you sold it to someone who was hungry. What they do with their property is up to them.
But thats not strictly true. Their restaurant = their rules, if you don't like them you're welcome to eat elsewhere.

citizensm1th

8,371 posts

166 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
I take it people don't take it to its logical conclusion and take pictures of their evacuations a couple of hours later?

And here is the coq au vin I had earlier. hurl

KFC

Original Poster:

3,687 posts

159 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
Pferdestarke said:
No flash. Quick. Discreet. Phone away in between.

No problem.
Seems fine... but these Germans the other day were really extracting the urine. Huge cameras, flashes, all of them getting in on the act, pics all the through the meal. The waiters really should have had a word.

Podie

46,649 posts

304 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
mattdaniels said:
You pay lots of money to go and see and hear the creative output of a director (ie. theatre), and you are not allowed to record the occasion due to house rules.

You pay lots of money to go and see and taste the creative output of a chef (ie. restaurant), and people are up in arms if the establishment applies the equivalent house rules.

scratchchin
Yet you don't go and play the part of Hamlet yourself, but you do consume the food.

hehe

LordGrover

34,148 posts

241 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
KFC said:
But thats not strictly true. Their restaurant = their rules, if you don't like them you're welcome to eat elsewhere.
I've not noticed any no photography rules at any of the admittedly low tech restaurants I frequent.
I suppose if they explicitly rule no photos then fair enough, otherwise they can whistle. If my money's good enough for them...

Gandahar

9,600 posts

157 months

Sunday 16th February 2014
quotequote all
I took loads of photo's at Dorchester Alain Ducasse which is 3 star. No issue whatever.

If you pay £300 for a meal, or £700 or whatever then you have the right to take photo's of the food.

Feck em.


Edited by Gandahar on Sunday 16th February 13:02

Gandahar

9,600 posts

157 months

Sunday 16th February 2014
quotequote all
Agrilla said:
No, it is poor etiquette, and diners should keep their telephone in their pocket/bag/car and not at the table.

I don't know why, but it seems disrespectful to the person you're dining with.
Exactly, keep the phone away, so not disturbed by calls, but take photo's on your camera so you remember the evening, especially if it is one in a lifetime experience.



Edited by Gandahar on Sunday 16th February 13:03

KFC

Original Poster:

3,687 posts

159 months

Sunday 16th February 2014
quotequote all
One thing I don't agree with is the chefs saying it harms them - if I see a great photo of a meal I'd love to eat, from a restaurant I can easily get to, I'm far far more likely to go try it out.

johnfm

13,751 posts

279 months

Sunday 16th February 2014
quotequote all
Why on earth would any normal person want to photograph a plate of food that somebody else has cooked unless they are reviewing it as part of their job?

Reading today that it has become quite a phenomenon on facebook - a large % of diners now do it and post it on FB etc.

Yet another nail in the coffin of civilised, social behaviour - won't be long until those NOT tweeting, facebook and instagramming will be deemed a weird minority.

Megaflow

11,455 posts

254 months

Sunday 16th February 2014
quotequote all
I have never quite understood the need for taking pictures of food either.

The first time we went to Maze Grill there was flash's going off left, right and centre, it's not like it's the flashiest place around. The only photo I have taken in a restaurant was the view at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen in Cormwall, because it is something else.

wijit

1,512 posts

204 months

Sunday 16th February 2014
quotequote all
KFC said:
Their restaurant = their rules,
Their restaurant, but my food. I take pictures of it if I feel like it, if I don't feel like it I won't take pictures. However, on the one occasion I was "asked" tonot take pictures I took pictures of the staff instead. When asked why, I said because I use Trip Advisor and if I can't put pictures of the food there I will put pictures of the service. They should take it as a compliment, instead of surrounding themselves in a pretentious air of self-importance.

KFC

Original Poster:

3,687 posts

159 months

Sunday 16th February 2014
quotequote all
wijit said:
KFC said:
Their restaurant = their rules,
Their restaurant, but my food. I take pictures of it if I feel like it, if I don't feel like it I won't take pictures. However, on the one occasion I was "asked" tonot take pictures I took pictures of the staff instead. When asked why, I said because I use Trip Advisor and if I can't put pictures of the food there I will put pictures of the service. They should take it as a compliment, instead of surrounding themselves in a pretentious air of self-importance.
Your food, but purchased under their rules. Saying you can buy it and do what you want with it is not really any different to buying a book and photocopying it and giving it away, or pirating a dvd you bought. Or making reproductions of a painting.

I don't care if other people take photos (without a flash). But it seems a ridiculous viewpoint to say "i'll do want I want". Personally I think you should have a bit of respect for the place you're in, and comply with the rules or go elsewhere.

santona1937

871 posts

159 months

Monday 17th February 2014
quotequote all
As a chef;
People place far too much importance on food and the hysteria that surrounds it.
Food is intellectual property just as any other art form is, some restaurants allow photography, some do not. Customers should just accept the decision and move on.