Michelin-starred restaurant bans diners from photographing their food
‘I mean, what are they doing?’
A British restaurant that holds three Michelin stars has banned diners from photographing their food.
The Waterside Inn in Berkshire will no longer tolerate eager social-media snappers in its prestigious dining room.
The restaurant was founded by Michel Roux and his brother Albert in 1972.
Although the acclaimed, French-inspired establishment is now run by Michel’s son, Alain, Roux clearly maintains a strong influence over the restaurant’s rules and regulations.
“I’m really getting so upset about people taking pictures,” the 76-year-old chef told the Daily Mail, who instructed staff to put a card up on the restaurant’s door saying “no photos, please”.
“I mean, what are they doing? Maybe once during the meal you want to take a little photo of something because it’s unusual,” he added.
Part of Roux’s vexation with photographing food is that he feels a photo cannot represent the quality of the flavours.
The riverside restaurant has been dubbed a “classic French” eatery by Michelin, which awarded the Roux brothers three stars – a merit it has held since 1985 – for their consistent culinary excellence.
However, it’s not the only leading restaurant to have imposed a “no photos” policy.
In 2014, a group of top chefs in France launched a campaign to ban the practice all together, claiming it spoiled the atmosphere of dining out.
Shortly after, a slew of New York eateries enforced photography bans, including Momofuku Ko, the famously hard-to-reserve Asian fusion restaurant by David Chang.
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