But not everyone likes the idea of sending digital postcards from the table. At the Pappacarbone restaurant on Italy’s Amalfi Coast near Salerno, chef Rocco Iannone is one of a growing number of restaurateurs across Italy who is gently instituting a “no food photo” policy. His cuisine, which is creatively photogenic, “is meant to be eaten, not bastardized by a badly-lit photo.” He has been a leading activist against the food porn phenomenon in Italy, which he says is both an infringement of intellectual property and often insulting. If an amateur photographer takes a photo with a smartphone, it is rarely going to do the plate justice, he says. “I want control over my image, and if someone publicizes a smudged plate or an inaccurate portrayal, that’s like defaming my name.”

A select number of restaurants in France have also started banning amateur food photography. Chef Alexandre Gauthier, of La Grenouillere in La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil, told AFP that the experience is not only disruptive to the nearby clientele, it also takes away from the diner’s experience. “Before they used to take photos of their family, of their grandmother, but now it’s photos of dishes,” he said. “We are trying to give our clients a break in their lives. For that, you need to turn off your mobile.”