Culinary icon Gordon Ramsay is known for taking strong stances on different subjects, as he has recently with pineapples on pizza and cocaine use in the restaurant industry. His latest take is on the popular behavior of taking photos of food at restaurants, and he's here to defend your right to do so.
How bloody pompous! It’s a compliment to the chef the fact that customers want to take a pictures of dishes they’ve paid for it’s 2017 https://t.co/lhkDq23wCR
— Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) November 3, 2017
After fellow chef Michel Roux put up a sign at his three Michelin-starred Waterside Inn Restaurant asking people to stop Instagramming their food, Gordon Ramsay took to Twitter to air out Chef Roux.
If I see a great looking picture posted, I’ll want to go and eat there immediately, he’s just an old fart who’s forgotten to move on ! https://t.co/t81hM7K5YF
— Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) November 3, 2017
Exactly Bradly.it’s a free promotion they should be grateful for, can you imagine being asked not to take a picture of Ed Sheeran singing https://t.co/5Limp3ZK88
— Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) November 3, 2017
The fact that even @MichelinGuideUK @guideMichelinFR are posting exciting pictures from there experiences is such a breath of fresh air... https://t.co/fiN7BIfeYw
— Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) November 3, 2017
Customers vote with their feet, pictures create huge followers and excite potential business https://t.co/NSlVHQHYws
— Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) November 3, 2017
Chef Ramsay makes some strong points, as social media has become a vital marketing tool for several eateries. When customers and influencers post photos of their food on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, it attracts those who follow them to try that restaurant out as well, generating plenty of foot traffic for those establishments.
By banning the common practice of taking a photo of one's dish, Chef Roux is losing a crucial potential advertising segment that customers may find detracts from their overall experience. Considering that his restaurant already limits that by enforcing rules such as requiring that men wear jackets, it's clear that Chef Roux has, as Gordon Ramsay puts it, "forgotten that customers are king."
