Thanks to the likes of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook the internet is now awash with carefully taken photos of extravagant plates of food – or ‘food porn’, reports FRANCE 24.
But the phenomenon has not gone down well with many of France’s finest chefs, some of whom are now asking customers not to take photos of dishes at their restaurants – something they claim infringes on their "intellectual property".
Gilles Goujon, whose "L’Auberge du Vieux Puits" restaurant in southern France holds three Michelin stars, says photos posted on social networks can ruin the experience for other diners.
“If people take a photo and put it out on social media, it takes away the surprise,” he told AFP, citing the example of his dish “oeuf de poule pourri de truffles” (chicken egg laden with truffles).
“It takes away a little bit of my intellectual property too. Someone could copy me,” he continued.
The quality of some of the photos taken is another problem for Goujon.
A photo “taken with a smartphone … is rarely good,” he says. “It doesn’t give the best impression of our work. It’s annoying.”
While admitting “it’s complicated” to ban photos from his restaurant, Goujon says he intends to put a message about the issue on his menus as soon as he can find a way of phrasing it so that will not be “too shocking” for diners.
Alexandre Gauthier, chef at "La Grenouillère" in Pas-de-Calais in northern France, has already taken that step. His menus now come with a picture of a camera with a line through it to let customers know photos are not welcome, if not technically banned.
“Photos are not banned, but I want them to question it,” said the Michelin-starred chef.
Like Goujon, Gauthier believes the constant snapping of dishes by smartphone-wielding customers detracts from the dining experience.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.