A bite of reality

Somya Abrol

In a time where virtual reality is more credible than, well, reality, how could food remain untarnished? It’s one thing to devour your food with eyes first, it’s another to turn into food paparazzi.

The past couple of years have seen the hashtag, #foodporn, doing rabid rounds on social media – read Instagram, Pintrest, Facebook, Twitter et al. Is it possible though that we’ve crossed the blurred lines of appropriate fascination with our food, in the visual context, of course. Have you, like us, come across frenzied diners who quietly take off their shoes and climb on top of a chair to take the perfect ‘top shot’ for Instagram?

With precisely such frenzies in mind, self-taught molecular gastronomy pioneer Chef Heston Blumenthal recently banned flash photography at his British three-Michelin starred restaurant, The Fat Duck. His measures to ensure that his customers make the best of the plate served to them, however, are just half as stringent as the ones taken by New York restaurant, Momofuku Ko, which welcomes you with a “No photography allowed” sign board.

Closer home, we talk to well-travelled chefs about the banning trend hitting India, if at all, and how they’ve dealt with camera-crazy customers in the past. Master chef Kunal Kapur, the executive chef at Hotel Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon, says chefs in India can’t afford to be so brazen. “There are two sides to a coin – one being the free publicity a restaurant gets thanks to such customers, the other being losing out on the actual experience of eating warm food, which is the primary reason one visits a restaurant. I’ve myself been a part of the game. By the time these customers get to their food, it’s cold; and I feel worse because I would’ve probably shouted on my chefs for a five-second delay on the dish. But, on the other hand, going with the times, food is the new means of entertainment. You can’t be so brazen as to ban photography altogether; that’s too extreme,” states Chef Kapur.

Ask him if there’s a middle path – like the one adopted by American chef David Bouley, where he took such customers to the kitchen for photography so they could later enjoy their warm plate of food – Chef Kapur says, “With a packed house, that’s not possible. At the least, I’d request food bloggers and Instagram fans to access our food pictures online, because I’d like my customers to properly relish what we’ve painstakingly prepared for them.”

Chandigarh-based Chef Oriana Bellardi, who has worked in various parts of the world, including Europe, says a customer has the privilege of doing whatever he/she wants with their food. “For me, food is an art form. If I’m painting your plate with flavours and presenting you with this magical dish, and you want to click pictures of it, I’d be more than proud; because if you don’t like your plate, you won’t take a picture. I think these bans are just to garner more publicity. If people want to click their food, let them take the bloody picture; let them have fun with it. If you want to sell it, sell it. If you want to burn it, burn it. Just have fun with it!”

About Heston Blumenthal’s flash photography ban, she says, “Banning the flash is okay, I guess. If you have three Michelin stars, you can do anything you please, really! But, Blumenthal is also almost always in the media. No points for guessing why! These days, most restaurant owners depend on social media to grow their clientele anyway; #foodporn is big all over the world! It’s so crazy that most people don’t even talk to each other through the meal. They prefer sticking their necks into their phones, which is good for a restaurant’s publicity, but we’re eventually losing human connection!” rues Chef Bellardi.

somya@tribunemail.com